"I think it's made from sheep."

"Byleth, the material isn't the question here."

"That doesn't mean it can't be."

"I mean, that's not untrue, but figuring out why it exists seems more important." Context is likely needed for what is transpiring. After formally establishing themselves as the Nibelungs, something that came with an odd sort of something else that Byleth didn't know what to make of, Byleth and the rest of the group crossed the river to keep investigating Alfheim and chase after Pallordo to see what he knew. Byleth was in the middle of putting her gun back into the weird invisible space it sat in whenever she wasn't using, and as she did that, she felt something weird in there. Upon pulling the weird thing out, Byleth discovered that it was a small pouch made of an unknown material covered in strange symbols and tied shut with a blue string. The same kind of blue as the Velvet Room.

"That makes sense," Byleth said.

"What makes sense?" Edelgard asked. Byleth pointed at the string.

"What does that mean, though?" Claude asked. Byleth simply shrugged her shoulders, though she wasn't completely sure why.

"Can we just open it up and see what's inside, already?" the little girl asked. "That's the fastest way to figure it out, right?"

"I agree, but let's be careful. For all we know, it could be a trap placed by Pallordo when we weren't looking," Dimitri said. Byleth nodded her head and undid the blue velvet string around the pouch. Looking inside, Byleth was initially greeted with nothing but darkness, but she quickly caught sight of something with a bit of sparkle. She turned the pouch upside-down, hit the bottom of it, and out came a gold coin.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

And even more so until a pile of gold was spilling out of the tiny pouch. That by itself would have been something, but in addition to the gold, the pouch released a seemingly random assortment of items such as rocks, sticks, and oddly shaped pieces of metal.

"It sure fits a lot," Byleth said once the pouch finally emptied itself.

"That shouldn't be the main takeaway here!" Claude said. "I mean, yeah, it's crazy that something that small could hold all that gold, but where did the gold even come from?"

"It's not mine."

"Who cares? We're rich! Rich!" the little girl said while running her hands through the gold. "Wait, I can't even use this for anything, so why am I so excited about it?"

"Don't know." Byleth started scooping all the gold and items back into the pouch.

"If the Professor didn't bring the gold with her, then it had to have been acquired either in this visit to Alfheim or our previous one," Edelgard said.

"How, though? We've been with her the whole time, and all Byleth's done is fight Shadows. That can't have anything to do with it," Dimitri said.

"Unless it does," Claude said with relative ease.

"What, then? Byleth kills Shadows, then she's somehow rewarded for it with gold and random trinkets?"

"Yeah, maybe. I mean, why not? Not like we've done anything else since we got here."

"That doesn't make sense, though."

"Says the guy who summons a magic man with a boar mask out of thin air." Dimitri's posture fell into a slump.

"Why did it have to be a boar, of all things? He's going to give me so much grief over that, I just know it." Byleth had no idea who he was talking about.

"Maybe it's not that some unseen force gives us gold for defeating Shadows, but the Shadows, themselves?" Edelgard asked. "If we assume that the gold is given to us after they're defeated, it could be that they, themselves, possess the gold and simply leave it behind after their demise."

"If that's how it works, then I got a great idea for increasing our profit margins," the little girl said. "Whenever we fight a Shadow, all we need to do is weaken them to the point that one more hit will do them in, and then we shake them down for all they got!"

"That's just—Would something like that even be necessary? We already get gold from beating them."

"For all we know, they only leave behind the scraps. This way ensures that we're getting everything they've got, and who wouldn't like that?" There was a glint in her eyes that Byleth didn't quite know what to make of.

"I like the way you think, kid," Claude said with a smile.

"I don't know. Even if they're some sort of demonic beings, robbing them feels a little wrong, doesn't it?" Dimitri asked.

"No one asked for a wet blanket over here!" the little girl said.

"That's not what this is."

"If it'll make you feel better, don't think of it as petty theft, think of it as more like these guys helping us fund our war effort. How about that? Can you live with that?" Claude asked. Dimitri just let out a sigh; Byleth didn't know if that was an answer, but as she stored her pouch away, she saw that there were more pressing matters at hand.

"Shadow," Byleth said. Everyone turned ahead and caught sight of a Shadow flying at them.

"A little warning would have been nice!" Claude said.

"That was a little warning."

"Not what I meant, but let's just get ready!" Everyone drew their Crests in the air and summoned their respective Personas. The Shadow, meanwhile, exploded into dark goo and reshaped itself into the form of a tiny woman with a blue outfit and insectoid wings.

It fluttered about for a few seconds before Byleth shot it with her Bang Bang Boomer and sent it crashing to the ground with a hole in one of its wings.

"If you were just going to do that, why'd you even summon your Persona?" the little girl asked.

"Everyone else was doing it," Byleth said. It was the truth, but the little girl still rolled her eyes. Moving on, Byleth and her companions surrounded the winged woman with their weapons to make sure that there was no chance it could run away.

"No, please! Please don't kill me, I beg you!" Surprisingly, it was the winged woman who said that.

"Did—Did that thing just talk?!" Dimitri asked.

"I suppose it makes sense," Edelgard said. "Personas and Shadows are supposed to be two sides of the same coin, and the Professor's Freydis spoke when it first appeared. I guess we just killed the other ones before they had a chance to speak."

"Sure does raise a lot of questions, but they're not important right now," Claude said. "You, Shadow lady. You said you want to live, right? Fork over all your gold, and we just might turn a blind eye here."

"Oh, um, I would, but I actually left my money in my other leotard. Sorry."

"What's a leotard? Is that what your outfit is called? That's kind of—I'm getting off track. What do we do now?"

"I guess we just kill her if we're done with her," the little girl said, shrugging her shoulders. They would have killed her anyway, so at least they weren't being set back.

"No, please! I'm sorry I tried to attack you, I won't do it again! Please don't kill me, I'm begging you!" the winged woman cried.

"Don't think you can beg for mercy now," Dimitri said. "It's time for you to—"

"Okay," Byleth interjected. Everyone, even the winged woman, looked at her weird for whatever reason.

"You want us to let her go, Professor? Why bother?" Edelgard asked.

"She said she's sorry. You are sorry, right?"

"Yes, yes! I'm so super duper sorry! I'll never bother you again, I promise!" the winged woman said.

"Then that's that. If you're sorry, then we won't hurt you." Everyone looked like they had something to say, but before they could, the winged woman jumped up off the ground and hugged Byleth's face. Byleth immediately pulled her off of her face and said, "Personal space."

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You don't know how relieved I feel right now! This is the happiest I've felt in all my years of being, of being—" The winged woman trailed off for a second before her wing instantly healed itself and she started floating in the air in front of Byleth. "That's right, I can't believe I forgot. I'm not just a denizen of this realm, I am one who drifts through the collective unconscious of man. Yes, that's who I am, that's who Pixie is, and from now on, I'll be drifting inside your heart!"

Byleth had no idea what that meant, but before she could get an answer, the winged woman—or Pixie, rather—was bathed in a green light as it transformed into a golden apple that flew at Byleth. She caught it in one hand, and as if she were being compelled to do so by something beyond her, she took a bite of the apple.

"What are you doing?! You can't just eat whatever random thing you find, especially if it was just an otherworldly being a second ago!" the little girl said.

"It's tart," Byleth said. The apple vanished in a burst of green light, and with it, Byleth felt like something new had entered her; not physically, but somehow, in some way, spiritually. It swelled around inside of her beyond her stomach, and before she knew it, Byleth was drawing her Crest once more, and when she slammed her hand against it, a single word left her lips: "Pixie."

Freydis was engulfed in a pillar of green fire, and when it vanished, out came the familiar form of Pixie.

"Oh my Goddess, what is this?" Dimitri asked.

"Her name is Pixie."

"No, I mean why do you have it? What happened to Freydis?"

"Nothing." Byleth drew her Crest once more, and a pillar of green fire exchanged Pixie for Freydis. "See?" Byleth repeated the process and brought Pixie out, once more.

"Yeah, we see, but how is this something we can even see?" Claude asked. "I mean, has it always been possible to have multiple Personas? And what was she saying with that stuff about remembering who she really is?" Byleth immediately turned to the little girl.

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't have the answers to every—Wait, I just got it," the little girl said. "Okay, so Shadows not remembering who they are. You know all that blue stuff that the World Tree is floating around in? It has a lot of different names like the collective unconscious, the Sea of Souls, the Kadath Mandala, but whatever you want to call it, it's where all past and present records of existence are recorded. Most of the time, all the records just float about aimlessly and don't bother anyone, but every now and then, they end up getting separated from the collective unconscious and wind up in one of the realms of Yggdrasil. When that happens, the Sphere of Influence of the realm corrupts them and forces them to take on a form more appropriate for their new home. In short, that's how we end up with Shadows."

"So you're saying that these things are copies of people and creatures that all existed at one point?" Dimitri asked. "I'm not sure if I fully understand, but the part about them being copies. It would more than explain why we've fought multiple versions of the same Shadows."

"So when the Professor made Pixie remember who she really was, in a way, she was purifying her and getting rid of this world's crazy brainwashing. How intriguing," Edelgard said, to which Byleth merely shrugged. "What about the other question? Is it truly possible to use multiple Personas?"

"Maybe? I'm still kind of fuzzy on that one, but people can wear more than one mask, so I guess it'd make sense for you all to be able to use more than one Persona," the little girl said. Her body floated off of the ground a little as she let out a small hum.

"What's wrong?" Byleth asked.

"Nothing, it's just—That whole thing where you made that Shadow remember who she was just by talking with her. When you think about it, that's kind of similar to what's been going on with me, isn't it? I don't know how to feel about that."

"Neither do I," Edelgard said. Before anyone could inquire further, another Shadow appeared before them, that one exploding into two of the floating pumpkins Byleth fought the previous day. Everyone summoned their Personas and charged into battle. The pumpkins shot fireballs while shouting, "Hee-Ho!", but Dimitri used Gunnar's water to extinguish them. Byleth took advantage of the opening and had Pixie launch a bolt of thunder at one pumpkin, and as it recoiled in pain, Edelgard charged in and cut it in two, its cleaved halves quickly dissolving into nothing. Meanwhile, Orvar-Oddr hit the other one with his ethereal arrow, after which Gunnar doused it with water. The flame inside the pumpkin's lantern went out and it fell to the ground a soggy mess.

"Okay, my turn!" Claude said. "Not gonna lie, I've liked this guy since we saw him yesterday, so if anyone's getting him on their team, it's me!"

"This isn't a game, Claude. Tell him, Byleth," Dimitri said.

"I think it's cute, too," Byleth said. Dimitri said nothing else as Claude stepped close to the pumpkin.

"Oh, no-ho. Are you gonna finish me-hee-ho off, mister?" the pumpkin asked.

"What? No, of course not," Claude said. "Honestly, I'm sorry we had to hurt you and your buddy at all, but that's the way it is sometimes. It's a doggy dog world out there, you know?"

"Haha, that's funny! I've never heard that one before-ho!"

"Oh, so you like jokes, do you? I got one that'll really knock your socks off. It goes like—" The pumpkin interrupted him with laughter.

"Knock my socks off, what? I don't even wear socks! That's too much, man!"

"That wasn't the joke," the pumpkin's lantern lit up again and it floated into the air completely dry, "but okay, then."

"I got it all worked out-ho. My true self is one of the Jack Bros, Pyro Jack! Let's keep having fun together, hee-ho!" Just like with Pixie, Pyro Jack was bathed in a green light as it transformed into a golden apple.

Also just like with Pixie, the apple flew into Byleth's hands, even though Claude was the only one reaching out for it.

"Huh," was all Byleth said in response to that.

"Okay, that was weird," Claude said. "Byleth, just stay there and don't move a muscle. I know it must be tempting, but no matter what, you cannot eat that apple."

"Don't talk to her like she's some kind of animal!" Edelgard said. Byleth immediately took a bite out of the apple. "You were still out of line, Claude, that hasn't changed."

"Yeah, fine, whatever, but Byleth! Why did you do that?"

"Instinct?" Blyeth asked with a shrug as the apple vanished in a burst of green light. The same feeling that appeared with Pixie appeared once more, and Byleth answered it by drawing her Crest and saying, "Pyro Jack." As expected, a green pillar of fire replaced Pixie with the familiar form of Pyro Jack. "Can no one else do this?"

"No, it's just you! Not cool, Byleth! Not cool! That was supposed to be my little buddy! Why'd you have to go and take him from me? Were you just that hungry?"

"I could still eat, but it was instinct." Claude looked nearly ready to fall over; someone needed to do something about his posture.

"You know, as crazy as it might sound, I don't think Byleth did that to try and fill that bottomless pit she calls a stomach," the little girl said. "Both now and with Pixie, there was a strange gleam in her eye when the apple appeared, almost as if some force was compelling her to react to it. Plus, since Byleth already knew that these apples taste tart, if she had control of herself, she wouldn't dare eat another one without pairing it with something to make it more edible."

"It's true, I wouldn't," Byleth said while nodding her head.

"Why is that the part you choose to acknowledge?" Dimitri said, to which Byleth simply shrugged her shoulders.

"The point is, if none of you felt anything like that, then it must mean that Byleth's the only one who can use multiple Personas," the little girl said.

"Is that so? That's certainly interesting," Edelgard said.

"Says you!" Claude said. "I put in all the work for winning that little guy over, so I should be able to use him! How come Byleth's the only one who gets to?" It was a good question, one that made Byleth remember something Igor and Adam had told her yesterday. Something about a power that she and she, alone, managed to possess that was supposed to help her on her journey.

"I'm a Wild Card," Byleth stated. Everyone turned to her with looks she couldn't process very well.

"A Wild Card? What does that mean?" Edelgard asked.

"I don't know, but that's what I am."

"And you know this because why, exactly?" Dimitri asked.

"There was a man with a big nose and he…" Byleth trailed off as she stressed to remember the finer details of it all.

"Look, I say we drop it. If I'm being honest, I didn't feel like being able to use multiple Personas was anything to be excited about in the first place. I'm sure the Professor will be fine, but it comes off as something that'll be more trouble than it's worth," Edelgard said. "However, if it will help the Professor, then I believe we should do what we can to assist her."

"Good thinking. After all, if we try and leave all the talking to this one, it'll probably take a miracle and a half to have any sort of long-running success," the little girl said.

"Yeah, that's probably true. Okay, if it's like that, then I don't mind sticking with Orvar-Oddr," Claude said. His posture seemed to improve, all of a sudden.

Also very sudden was the appearance of two more Shadows. One gained the appearance of a purple-skinned woman floating in the air with avian wings while wearing a strapless yellow dress while the other exploded into four of the metal rats that they had fought multiple times over.

"I'd appreciate it if you left those vermin to me," Edelgard said. Before anyone could say anything, Edelgard had summoned her Bang Bang Boomer and fired at one of the rats, killing it in an instant and making the other three run off in a panic, Edelgard immediately giving chase. She seemed to have a handle on things, so Byleth decided to leave her alone and focus on the winged woman, who was currently in the middle of firing ethereal feathers at Dimitri and Claude that they were barely dodging.

"Little help here!" Claude said. Byleth nodded to Pyro Jack and it launched a fireball at the winged woman, interrupting its assault and allowing for Orvar-Oddr to fire an attack at it, an attack that more or less harmlessly bounced off of it. "Yeah, that figures." The winged woman then opened her mouth and fired off a flurry of needles in their way. Dimitri winced in pain as Gunnar was struck by the attack, but then his body started to glow with the activation of his Crest, a glow that was passed into Gunnar, and his Persona was able to parry the attack with a single strike. From there, the winged woman readied her ethereal arrows once more.

"Too slow!" Dimitri said. Still glowing with the power of his Crest, Dimitri leaped into the air and slashed at the enemy's wings with his lance, his strength enough to tear one clean off, and as it tried its best to stay afloat, he summoned his Bang Bang Boomer and hit her in the forehead with the back end of it to send her crashing down to the ground.

"Well, looks like one of us likes to play a little rough," Claude said with a small whistle.

"Sorry. I got carried away," Dimitri said as his Crest deactivated.

"You defeated the enemy. The way you did it shouldn't matter," Byleth said. It was the truth of the matter, but Dimitri looked as if he had other thoughts on the subject.

"P-Please, d-don't hurt me. I'll be good, I promise." The statement came from the winged woman, barely clinging to what remained of her life.

"Your turn, Dimitri."

"Wait, what? Why do I have to talk to her?" Dimitri said.

"It's your turn."

"Since when are we on a turn system?" Byleth wasn't aware that they weren't on a turn system, so she didn't know how to respond to that. Regardless, Dimitri let out a sigh and stepped over to the winged woman.

"You're ready to finish me off, aren't you? Can't say I don't deserve it," the winged woman said.

"No, that's not what I want to do," Dimitri said. "Honestly, I'm sorry that I had to hurt you at all. We're all victims of whatever cruel game Pallordo and his ilk are playing, so we should try and come together against them."

"My, how noble of you. Guess I should expect a handsome man like you to have such a kind heart." The winged woman giggled and Dimitri's face went a little red. If he was feeling sick, then he should have told them about it before they went to the World Tree.

"Yes, well, thank you for the compliment, I suppose."

"Oh, come on, don't go on shy on me now. Then again, it does add a little charm to your character. I think I can get behind the whole 'shy guy' routine if you'll let me." The winged woman batted her eyes at Dimitri, and for some reason, he kept backing away from her until he bumped into a nearby tree.

"Dimitri, if you don't want to have sex with her, just tell her that," Byleth said. The little girl started laughing for whatever reason, and for some reason, Claude joined her.

"None of you are helping, at all!" Dimitri shouted.

"Oh, I love a man who can make people laugh," the winged woman said. "Wait, I do? I do, that's right!" All injuries on the winged woman's body vanished without a trace and she went into the air, once more. "Yes, my true name is Nemhain, and now I am yours! Call me next time you wanna get really crazy, big boy." Nemhain was bathed in a green light before turning into a golden apple that, like the others, flew into Byleth's hand and had a bite taken out of it before vanishing, signifying that she now had control over Nemhain.

"I'm never doing this again," Dimitri said.

"What? Is His Royal Highness that afraid of a little flirting? How do you expect to continue the bloodline like this?" Claude asked. He was still laughing a good deal, but he stopped when Dimitri kicked a tree hard enough to knock a chunk of metal off of it.

"Okay, I think we took this far enough, let's see how Edelgard is doing," the little girl said. Byleth turned her head to the left and caught sight of Edelgard digging her heel into one of the metal rats while Brynhildr had her spear skewering another one and was burning the third one with a fireball.

"She seems okay," Byleth said.

"That feels rather subjective."

"So, have you bastards had enough? Is this the end of you trying to get a rise out of me?" Edelgard asked as Brynhildr's victims disintegrated.

"Hey, what's your problem, lady? I didn't do anything to deserve this, and you know it!" said the metal rat under her heel.

"You exist as what you are. That's more than enough reason for why you deserve all of this and more." Edelgard pressed down harder on the rat and it started screaming. Her expression didn't change in the slightest through any of it, though for whatever reason, she stopped when she noticed Byleth and the others approaching her.

"Hey, what gives? I didn't say stop. Keep it going, girl!"

"I will kill you right here and now!" The metal rat let out another scream, one that was decidedly not of arousal, before pleading for his life once more. After a bit of that, Edelgard sighed and removed her foot from the rat.

"Whoa, that was scary. Felt my life flashing before my eyes. My life, my life—That's right, I got it now! My real name is Tesso! Lookin' forward to workin' with ya, babe!" Tesso transformed into a golden apple that immediately flew into Byleth's hands and disappeared after a single bite.

For some reason, the tart flavor was especially apparent with Tesso's apple.

"Okay, so now you all got a chance to sway a Shadow over to Byleth's side. Looks like there's a bit of a lull in Shadows popping up out of nowhere, so let's keep moving," the little girl said. She, Dimitri, and Claude led the continued way through the forest while Byleth and Edelgard headed up the rear.

"Does Tesso really make you uncomfortable?" Byleth asked. Edelgard wasn't looking her in the eye.

"Not that thing, specifically, but I'd rather not have to look at it if I could help it, especially with what it brings out in me."

"I don't get it, but if you don't like it, then I won't use him in front of you." Edelgard looked at Byleth again and nodded her head.

"Professor, I didn't get the chance to ask you earlier, but was what happened with that Pixie how you always do things? Is it easy enough for you to forgive someone, so long as they just say that they're sorry?"

"It depends on the person, but if I don't hate them and they really are sorry, then it should be enough." Edelgard kept looking at Byleth before smiling a bit.

"I see. That's good to hear." It was just a simple fact about herself that she was stating, but if Edelgard got something out of it, then good for her.


The group continued their journey through Alfheim and after Pallordo. Sure enough, more Shadows appeared again and again to try and take them down, all failing to do so, and while most of them were defeated with relative ease, some were added to Byleth's steadily growing roster of Personas. Four of them ended up being enemies they had previously faced in battle: the gelatinous blob known as Slime, the little girl with pointed ears known as Nadja, the armored knight known as Airgetlam, and the knife-wielding skeleton Jack Ripper; it was another one of the Jack Bros, and she found that quite humorous. Three new ones added to the roster were Mandrake, an odd-looking plant-like creature, Bicorn, a purple horse with two horns, and Cait Sith, a bipedal cat dressed like a fancy swordsman.

It was also through all of that that Byleth learned that she could only contain a maximum of ten Personas at once. A few seconds after Bicorn joined her, a searing pain surged through her head, like someone was concussing her with a pair of silver gauntlets over and over again. At the same time, a voice was telling her to discard a Persona; she didn't know what that meant, but the second she thought about getting rid of Tesso, the pain, along with Tesso, vanished from her mind and heart. She was far quicker about it with Cait Sith and spent little time on deciding to get rid of Airgetlam; Jack Ripper could also use dark magic, and it was cuter than Airgetlam, so it was a no-brainer. No other new Shadows were added after that, and their exploration went uninterrupted until they came to a large river blocking their path.

"That is—That is a lot of water," Edelgard said rather slowly.

"Very astute observation," Claude said. "Looks like it just keeps going and going on both sides. Guess we got no choice but to swim across."

"Okay," Byleth said. She wasted no time in taking off her breastplate, but when her blouse was barely halfway over her chest, the little girl flew over and pulled it right back down. "Personal space."

"I don't care!" the little girl said. "Don't be so quick to get into your skivvies in front of everyone!"

"If I'm slow about it, it'll just be wasting time."

"That's not the problem here! The problem is giving these kids a heart attack because they're unable to handle you in your near-nudity!"

"You can't kill people by being naked." Byleth turned to the others. "Would I kill you if I was naked?"

"Nope. No problems here," Claude said.

"I, um, I think I would find a way to manage, somehow, I think," Dimitri said; it looked as if his fever from earlier had returned.

Edelgard was the only one who didn't say anything because her head was submerged underneath the water.

"Is she thirsty?" Byleth asked.

"I—No, that's too easy, and you'll never learn this way," the little girl said; Byleth had no idea what she was supposed to be learning, but she would figure it out, eventually. Soon enough, Edelgard lifted her head out of the water, panting a little as she squeezed the water out of her hair.

"I was testing the strength of the river. That's all that I was doing," Edelgard said. "The current feels too strong for swimming, so I believe we should avoid swimming at all costs."

"Right. Yeah, that's all that was," Claude said, doing a good job of restating the obvious. "Are you sure about that, though? I mean, it doesn't look too bad, so—"

"It is definitely too much! Besides, we still don't know everything about how this world works, so we can't say for certain that swimming in this water would be okay, okay?"

"Okay," Byleth said. Edelgard let out a breath as Byleth pulled her blouse back down and put her breastplate back on.

"If swimming isn't an option anymore, how are we going to cross?" Dimitri asked, his fever looking like it had died down.

"Too bad I can't transform into a boat or anything like that. Or anything, really. An ability like that would certainly be useful," the little girl said. "Let me see just how far this river goes." The little girl flew up into the air, far above the metal trees. Byleth could see her twisting her head about to get a look around, and after a minute of that, she flew back down and had everyone follow them upstream, saying that there were two things she wanted them to look at.

The first thing that she directed them to was a large pillar of green light sticking out of the ground. It seemed to stretch all the way up to the sky, and its coloring was the same as the fire that appeared whenever they summoned their Personas. No one had any immediate guesses as to what it might be, so it was agreed that they wouldn't get too close to it until they finished examining the second thing the little girl found: a large, metal arch at the riverbank.

"Pretty weird place for something like this. Think it's how they decorate here?" Claude asked.

"I don't think so," the little girl said. "I saw the other side of the river when I was in the air before, and there's some sort of indent in the ground. My guess is there's supposed to be some sort of bridge here, but I'm not sure what happened to it. It'd be easy to say that it was destroyed, but there are no signs of destruction here."

"Look," Byleth stated. She pointed at the left side of the arch and drew everyone's attention to a small, rectangular opening. "It looks like it has depth to it, and it also doesn't look like someone made it with a cut."

"So a natural part of the architecture, then. Does it mean something?" Dimitri asked.

"Hide." At Byleth's word, everyone went behind a couple of trees as a pair of Shadows touched down by the arch. Oddly enough, while they looked mostly the same as the regular Shadows they had been facing, their white robes had gold trimmings around the edges, and their wings appeared to be sparkling.

"Still no sign of those intruders. We better find them soon, though, lest Lord Pallordo have our heads," one of the Shadows said.

"I don't even know what he's so scared for. As long as they don't have the keycard, there's no way they'll be able to cross the river and head to the center," the other Shadow said.

"Yeah. Stupid intruders, thinking they can do anything against us." The Shadows let out a laugh and flew off into the air. Once they were out of sight, Byleth and everyone removed themselves from their hiding spots.

"So we're stupid, are we? Bet they're the ones who'll be feeling real stupid once they learn they gave us everything we need to know," Claude said.

"I'm still a little confused, though," Dimitri said. "I can assume that this 'keycard' they spoke of is some sort of key, but what is it supposed to be?"

"Well, if it's a card, then it must be rectangular, so it probably goes into that slit on the arch," Edelgard said. "Sometimes, when a person builds a dungeon, they set up mechanisms in a way that require inserting objects like gemstones into something to trigger them, so perhaps this keycard will summon the bridge after we use it."

"Well, we won't be able to figure it out just by standing here. Let's find the Shadow that has the keycard thing and rob him blind!" the little girl said.

"What about that?" Byleth asked, directing everyone's attention back to the pillar of green light stretching out to the sky.

"Come to think of it, those Shadows didn't say anything about that pillar of light getting in our way, so that might mean it's harmless."

"Or it's so dangerous that they don't need to remind themselves of it," Edelgard said.

"Okay, that sounds like you're arguing with me just to argue with me. Knock it off." Edelgard said nothing in response. With that being settled, Byleth walked over to the pillar of light and stuck the tip of her sword into it. She pulled it out after a few seconds and saw that the sword was unharmed and unchanged, so naturally, the next logical step was to stick her head into the pillar.

Her face had only grazed the surface before the little girl yanked her away from it.

"Personal space. Also, you said it was fine," Byleth said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you should just stick your head in there out of the blue like that! Have at least a semblance of self-preservation!" the little girl said.

"I do, and it's fine. Watch." Without another word, Byleth stepped away from the little girl and stepped into the pillar of light, a flash of green light briefly entering her vision.


It wasn't long before the rest of Byleth's group had stepped through the pillar of light. Everyone started lambasting her for being so quick to step through the pillar of light, even though it was agreed that it was probably safe, but they all stopped talking when they saw what Byleth had first seen when she stuck her face through the pillar of light.

"We're back at the beginning of Alfheim," Dimitri said. Sure enough, everyone had been taking in the familiar scenery of the grassy field that graced their presence whenever they came to Alfheim. "How is this possible? Were we teleported, somehow?"

"I think we've got our answer right there," Claude said. He pointed behind everyone and drew their attention to a pillar of light identical to the one they stepped through, one that hadn't been there any of the previous times they had entered the area.

"I believe I know what's going on," Edelgard said. "This pillar of light has a similar function to a warp tile: step through one pillar, and you're spat out from another one; I'm assuming we didn't see this pillar before because it was only activated when we stepped through the other one."

"So if we step through this thing, we can instantly jump around from here to wherever else there's another one of these things? Nice! That'll sure save on travel time if we end up having to leave today."

"Let's keep that a rather big 'if'. I'd like to find Pallordo before the day is done, if possible," Dimitri said. Byleth and everyone else seemed to be in agreement, and they all headed for the pillar of light to start their search for the keycard.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" was something the little girl asked of Byleth. She asked her that because Byleth had suddenly stopped walking with the rest of the group. If the little girl was questioning what she was looking at, then that could only mean that Byleth was the only one seeing the blue door by the edge of the field. The door that was the same shade of blue as the Velvet Room.

Before Byleth knew it, the key Igor had given her appeared in her hands. Igor had said that she could use it to enter the Velvet Room at her leisure and that they would have more to talk about by the time she decided to do so.

There were, indeed, things she wanted to talk about, so without thinking too much about it, Byleth opened the door with her key and stepped through.


"Welcome back," was how Igor greeted Byleth when she sat back down in front of Adam and himself in the Velvet Room. "We have been watching your progress through the World Tree. I must congratulate you, both for gaining allies with similar abilities to yourself and for awakening to your abilities as a Wild Card."

"Thank you," Byleth said. "So me being a Wild Card is why I can use multiple Personas?"

"Indeed, it is," Adam said. "While most Persona users are only able to divide themselves between their true selves and a single mask, the Wild Card is unique in that it allows you to wield multiple masks in your struggle against adversity. This is why I compared it to the number zero; it is empty in that it lacks the individualized identity of a normal Persona user, but it is infinite in that it can hold a large number of other selves within itself."

So I'm empty, then. Huh, Byleth thought. The notion lingered in her mind for a bit longer than she thought it would.

"Since you've gotten a handle at obtaining Personas in the field, would you like to try your hand at another means of obtaining them?" Byleth nodded her head. "Very good. Allow us to introduce you to the power of fusion."

"Fusion is one of the services Adam and I will be providing you on your journey," Igor said. "With this power, you can take two of your weaker Personas and combine them into a new one that's stronger than the sum of its parts, even inheriting some of the abilities of its components."

"What if I want to keep using one?" Byleth asked.

"Worry not, miss, for that is where I come in," Adam said. Adam snapped his fingers, and in his hands appeared a large, leather-bound book. "All Personas you obtain are registered into this grimoire the second you obtain them. If you ever feel like regaining a Persona, I would be more than happy to summon them from their respective page. For a small fee, of course."

"You two are why Shadows drop money and other things." The words left Byleth's mouth the second the revelation hit her.

"Yes, that is, indeed, our doing," Igor said. "It seemed appropriate to give you extra incentive to fight the enemies before you. Not only that, but setting up that system allows for us to employ a sort of 'give and take' with fusion. It would definitely be within our power to provide the service for free, but it would be hard for us to imagine you understanding the value of it if you never had to work for it. You understand, yes?" Byleth nodded her head. "Good. Now, let's begin." Igor snapped his fingers, and in an instant, a series of green will-o'-wisps appeared in front of Byleth. Some of them had images of people and creatures Byleth assumed to be potential Personas, but others just had silhouettes for her to look at.

"You're wondering about the silhouettes, aren't you?" Adam asked. "While you technically possess the Personas necessary to create them, it would be unwise of us to allow you to do so. You've already discovered that using a Persona is draining on your physical and mental health," Byleth flashbacked to how much she strained herself when she tried to have eleven Personas, "and those Personas go right along with that. At your current level of strength, summoning them even once would completely drain you of power and leave you defenseless, and since my master and I wish to see you succeed, we would advise you not to try and fuse them until you have strengthened yourself further."

"Okay," was all Byleth said on the matter. Adam let out a little laugh, and Byleth went back to looking at the will-o'-wisps until she had found one she liked and pointed at it.

"Let us begin," Igor said. A chessboard appeared between Byleth and Igor, and into the chessboard flew a pair of green lights that had flown out of Byleth's chest. Out from the chessboard rose a full set of chess pieces, all of them in the shape of the components of her choice, Freydis and Nadja. The pieces moved around the board with the speed and precision that Byleth assumed seasoned chess players would move them with, shattering into dust whenever they collided with each other.

Soon enough, there were only two pieces left on the board, one of each Persona, and when they collided, instead of dust, they turned into a green light that floated above the chessboard and turned into a blue owl with long legs and a crown on its head.

"The name's Stolas," the owl said. "I abhor having to associate with the common folk, but seeing as I'm now you, I suppose I can make an exception, just this once." Stolas transformed into a familiar golden apple that Byleth wasted no time in taking a bite out of.

"Truly a remarkable fusion. How do you feel after this?" Igor asked.

"Don't know. Can I have Freydis back?" Byleth asked.

"Quick to the point, I see," Adam said. He flipped open the grimoire, touched a page inside, and gold coins flew out from behind Byleth and into the book, presumably coming from the pouch she was provided. Nothing else happened after that, but she could feel Freydis returning to her mind. "Would you like to keep fusing? Or is there something on your mind that you'd like to have cleared up before we proceed further?"

"What's a Fool, and why are the Nibelungs that?"

"Ah, I see. You're referring to your Confidant, is that it?" Byleth didn't know the context of the word, but it had appeared in her head earlier, so she nodded in response to him.

"Yes, that is the other power of the Wild Card you have awakened today," Igor said. "You are on a journey of great importance, but you cannot walk it alone. Involving yourself with others is an important foundation of your task, and you've done well to get it started. That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who are in need of help and can provide you the same if asked for it. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature, as well."

"Personas are the strength of one's heart. The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain. If you form more bonds with people and continually strengthen them, you will grow stronger and stronger still. It is, undoubtedly, in your benefit," Adam said. The words Igor and Adam were saying were odd, a lot of the speech being something she couldn't completely wrap her head around. Parts of it were confusing, but the gist of what Byleth got out of it was that Confidants were formed when she formed a bond with people and if she wanted to make herself stronger as a Wild Card, she would need to keep doing it.

"I think you should pick someone else for this," Byleth said.

"Is that so? Why should we do that?" Igor asked.

"I'm not good for the job. I won't get Confidants."

"Why do you think this? Because you have no experience with forming bonds? Because no relationship other than the one with your father has ever been a lasting one? Because you, in general, are not good at understanding others?" It was hard to nod at everything, so Byleth hoped a single nod would encompass everything. "If those are your problems, then I have to tell you that you are an even more appropriate guest than I first believed you to be."

"I don't understand," Byleth said.

"As we said, strengthening your bonds with your Confidants will help you mature as an individual, as well," Adam said. "As you bond with them and help them grow, you will grow, as well. The perfect kind of person for this role is someone who needs first-hand experience with bonding with others, so if you believe that you aren't good at that, then all the more reason for you to be our guest."

"Me not being good with people is a good thing?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I suppose you never thought you'd hear someone tell you that, right?" It was true, she never imagined hearing that. Not after everything she had lived through with her father's company, not after she started seeing the little girl in her dreams, and not even after the adventure with Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude had started. It was an odd thing to consider, but she still had no reason to believe that they would lie to her, so for now, she would believe them when they said that she was still fit to be a Wild Card.

Once that was done, at Igor's behest, they kept going.


After crafting several more fusions, Byleth, having exhausted all of her options, bid Igor and Adam farewell and left the Velvet Room. For some reason, when her senses returned to her, she was standing in front of the door to the Velvet Room in the same way she did when she first entered, and when she apologized for taking so long, the little girl gave her an odd look and said that she was only staring out into space for ten seconds. The Velvet Room seemed to have its own odd quirks to it, but Byleth would have to think about that later. For now, she was joining the rest of the group in entering the pillar of light and returning to the arch.

"Okay, now to find the keycard," Edelgard said. "Those Shadows we eavesdropped on looked slightly different from the others, so they seem like a good place to start. Where do you think we should start looking for them."

"They were looking for us, so let's bring them to us," Byleth said. She drew her Crest in the air, slammed her hand against it, and summoned one of her new Personas: an anthropomorphic, female frog wearing a dress and cross-like accessories on her arms. Byleth commanded her Persona to fire lightning into the air, hoping that it would draw the two Shadows to their location.

"Byleth? What is that?" Dimitri asked.

"Heqet," Byleth said as Heqet kept shooting lightning into the air.

"Right, right. Where did you get that Persona?"

"Fusion of Bicorn and Mandrake," Byleth said as Heqet kept shooting lightning into the air.

"So, what? You can just mash two Personas into a new one, now? How'd you learn to do that?" the little girl asked. Byleth didn't say anything as Heqet kept shooting lightning into the air. "Yeah, that's about what I expected, I guess." Byleth didn't know how to respond to that, and before Heqet could fire another bolt of lightning, one of the Shadows with the gold trimmings on its robe touched down in front of them.

"There you are! I finally found you intruders!" the Shadow said.

"We wanted you to do that," Byleth said.

"A likely story! Now, you die!" The Shadow exploded into dark goo and turned into a snowman wearing snow boots and a pointed blue hat. "For Lord Pallordo, I won't let you get past me-hee-ho!" It was hard to take him seriously when he had a perpetual grin on his face and now spoke with a child-like voice. None of that stopped Byleth from having Heqet shoot it with lightning and knocking him back.

"Let's go!" Edelgard said as she, Dimitri, and Claude summoned their own Personas. Dimitri's Gunnar shot water at the snowman, but it was easily brushed off and the snowman fired a blast of ice that knocked the two of them back, Claude and Orvar-Oddr suffering the same fate when he tried to shoot it with ethereal arrows. Edelgard's Brynhildr managed to get in close to try and slash at the snowman, only for the snowman to run away in tears that froze the second they fell off of his face.

"We should melt it," Byleth said, Edelgard nodding in response. Byleth drew her Crest and switched Heqet out for Cait Sith, and once it appeared, Cait Sith, Brynhildr, and Byleth, herself, shot fireballs at the snowman. The combined power of their attacks melted his entire lower half, and it fell to the ground with a "Hee-Ho!"

"Nice job, you two. I guess it goes to show that you've got some real firepower," Claude said.

"Yes, because we defeated the enemy," Byleth said. For some reason, Claude let out a sigh. Byleth ignored that before turning back to the snowman. "Do you have the keycard? If you don't have it, tell us who does."

"Hee-Ho! Hee-Ho! Hee-Ho! Hee-Ho! Hee-Ho!" Byleth wasn't sure what to make of that, if anything even could be made of that.

"I'm not sure why, but I don't think we'll be able to talk to this one. It looks like the Sphere of Influence has a stronger effect on some Shadows than it does on others," the little girl said.

"No choice but to kill it, then," Byleth said. A shame to have to do in someone who looked so cute, but it had to be done.

Before it could be done, however, the other Shadow with gold trimmings on its robe flew in and landed next to the snowman, transforming into a snowman, himself.

"That's far enough-ho!" the second snowman said. "I won't let you hurt my buddy-hee anymore-ho! You might be too much for one of us-ho—"

"But not two of us, hee-ho!" the first snowman said. The second snowman melted down into a puddle that was mixed into the first snowman, and the mixture was bathed in a dark aura that exploded into green light. When the light faded, the two snowmen were replaced with a much larger version with a crown, a scepter, a cape, and a fancy haircut whose lower half was made entirely out of dozens and dozens of the original snowmen.

"He got bigger," Byleth said.

"Yes, we can see that," Dimitri said.

"Bow to me! Hee-know your places!" the giant snowman said before firing ice at all of their Personas; a surge of pain rushed through Byleth, and she was sure the others felt the same. The giant snowman then waved its scepter in front of itself, causing a red aura to form around its body. The second Byleth regained herself, she launched a fireball at the giant snowman, but while it looked like he took damage, it was hardly to the same effect as with the smaller snowman. "Not gonna cut it this time, hee-ho!"

"That red aura must make it resistant to fire!" the little girl said. "There's no way it can keep that up forever, though, so use other attacks until it wears off!"

"That goes without saying!" Edelgard said, firing her Bang Bang Boomer at the giant snowman. The bullet knocked out one of the lumps of coal it used for an eyeball, and in a fit of rage, it fired more ice at everyone and blew them all back. It readied itself for a third blast of ice, but now Byleth was ready for it.

"Apsaras!" Byleth said, drawing her Crest and switching out Cait Sith for a new Persona. Apsaras, a blue-skinned woman in a white outfit with a translucent sash around her arms, was resistant to ice attacks, so Byleth was able to use her to absorb some of the attack and use her own fire magic to get rid of the rest. Apsaras fired a blast of wind at the giant snowman, and as it was knocked back, Brynhildr and Gunnar slashed at its arms and Orvar-Oddr shot its torso with arrows.

"Knock it off, hee-ho!" the giant snowman said, batting Brynhildr and Gunnar away with its scepter. Claude and Orvar-Oddr fired arrows, but they were deflected by a singular blast of ice larger than the ones previously fired that managed to knock the two of them into a tree. The giant snowman then slid over to Byleth and swung its scepter down at her hard and fast, too fast for her to try and dodge, so she braced herself for the impact. The impact came, but it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

"Are you all right, Professor?" When Byleth picked herself back up, she saw that her body was covered in a faint glow, and she also saw that Edelgard and Brynhildr were pointing their respective weapons in her direction. It appeared that Brynhildr had the power to increase their durability. Good to know.

"I didn't die," Byleth said. Edelgard appeared satisfied with that.

"That's cheating, hee-ho!" The giant snowman swung at Byleth once more, but now she was ready for it.

"Freydis," Byleth said, summoning Freydis to the field. Freydis parried the scepter with her sword, and while she couldn't completely knock it away, she was strong enough to maintain a stalemate. That was manageable. Byleth jumped up and launched a fireball into the giant snowman's face; it wasn't especially effective because of the aura, but it was enough to startle him, which allowed Freydis to break through the stalemate and, with help from the rest of the Personas, hack at the hand holding the scepter until it came clean off.

As the giant snowman cried, the red aura around the giant snowman vanished.

"Sanzo." Byleth swapped Freydis out for another new Persona, a long-haired woman holding a pewter staff dressed in an ornate hat with a white robe exposing her undergarments. Sanzo waved her staff in the air and a gray aura engulfed the giant snowman just as he tried to summon the red aura again. Just as Byleth had hoped, that power of Sanzo's had managed to seal his powers.

"Cheater! Cheater cheater, pumpkin eater!"

"I haven't had pumpkin in a while, actually." Sanzo's staff glowed with ethereal light before stretching out and shooting the giant snowman through the chest. Byleth then swapped Sanzo out for Cait Sith and had it shoot him with a fireball, alongside Brynhildr and herself. The pile of tiny snowmen melted and he fell on his back, and as he lay there, everyone charged at him with their weapons and hit him again and again until he was completely destroyed, offering one final "Hee-Ho!" before vanishing.

"Hoy, that was a tough one. I think we could all use a little pick-me-up," Claude said. Orvar-Oddr drew an arrow of light, but it was pink and was fired directly into Byleth. The healing spell quickly took effect and Byleth felt her injuries fade away. Claude repeated the process for Dimitri and himself, but Edelgard excused herself from it.

"I feel fine, so you should conserve your strength," Edelgard said.

"Really? Could have sworn I saw you get a little banged up, but okay." Claude shrugged his shoulders and dismissed Orvar-Oddr.

"Look," Byleth said, stepping over to the spot where the giant snowman once was. Sticking out of the grass was a small, rectangular object with a green "A" on one side. "It's the keycard."

"It does look like a card, so that might be true. Let's try it out," Dimitri said. Byleth handed him the keycard and he walked over to the arch. Dimitri inserted it into the slit, and his expression quickly turned sour.

"What's wrong? Doesn't it fit?" the little girl asked.

"No, it does, but it's not a complete fit. It feels like I can just slide it back out, but it should be fully locked in, shouldn't it?"

"Maybe you turn it? It is a keycard, after all," Edelgard said.

"I tried that, but nothing happened. This must be a fake one, and the Shadow with the real keycard is still out there." Dimitri pulled the card out and stepped back to everyone. "Let's keep looking for—" Before Dimitri could finish, a strange series of noises started sounding out from the arch, and a second later, a silver bridge shot out of the arch, went over the river, and connected to the indent on the other side. "Oh. I guess it did work, then."

"A key you don't have to turn to unlock something. What a time to be alive," Claude said.

"Let's go," Byleth said, making herself the first one to step onto the bridge, with the rest of the group closely following behind. They were able to get that far by working together, and Byleth wanted to keep going with that.

If learning how to be with them would help make her strong, then she would do what she could to see it as far as it could go.


Confidants:

Fool: The Nibelungs 1/10


The Nibelungs

Name: Byleth Eisner

Persona: Freydis

Specialty: Bless and Physical

Weak to: Curse

Resists: Bless

Name: Edelgard von Hresvelg

Persona: Brynhildr

Specialty: Fire and Defense buffs

Weak to: Water

Resists: Fire

Name: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd

Persona: Gunnar

Specialty: Water and Physical

Weak to: Force

Resists: Water

Name: Claude von Riegan

Persona: Orvar-Oddr

Specialty: Force and Healing

Weak to: Fire

Resists: Force


Persona Compendium

Name: Freydis

Arcana: Fool

Bio: The daughter of Norse explorer Erik the Red. In The Saga of Erik the Red, Freydis is depicted as a viking warrior who joined her half-brother on an expedition to Vinland when they were attacked by the Skraeling. While the rest of the crew panicked, Freydis admonished them for cowardice and fought off the enemy, all while heavily pregnant.

Name: Slime

Arcana: Fool

Bio: A primitive monster with a viscous body. There are various theories as to its origins, but it is still under debate. Said to compulsively collect shiny objects.

Name: Jack Ripper

Arcana: Jester

Bio: A serial killer who terrorized London in the 19th century. He killed prostitute after prostitute in the slums of London, then mutilated their bodies. The media was quick to cover the murders, and the case was the talk of the town. Scotland Yard came up with a few suspects after a thorough investigation, but the case went unsolved.

Name: Pyro Jack

Arcana: Magician

Bio: A drunkard who tricked the Devil out of taking him to Hell. When refused entry into Heaven, he was forced to wander the earth with only an ember as a light.

Name: Apsaras

Arcana: Priestess

Bio: Hindu water spirits, they are beautiful young women who dance for the gods. They also guide heroes fallen in battle to paradise.

Name: Airgetlam

Arcana: Emperor

Bio: The first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is cognate with the Gaulish and British god Nodens. His Welsh equivalent is Nudd or Lludd Llaw Eraint.

Name: Stolas

Arcana: Secrets

Bio: The 36th demonic spirit of the Ars Goetia and a Great Prince of Hell. He commands twenty-six legions of demons and teaches astronomy and the knowledge of poisonous plants, herbs and precious stones and their uses during prophecies.

Name: Sanzo

Arcana: Councillor

Bio: A Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India to bring back Buddhist scriptures to China during the Tang Dynasty. His story was adapted into the famous Journey of the West. While the original monk was male, it's not uncommon for adaptations to make him effeminate or female.

Name: Pixie

Arcana: Lovers

Bio: Friendly fairies of the forest that tend to hide from humans. They like to play tricks on the Laz people. It is said that they are the souls of dead, unbaptized children.

Name: Heqet

Arcana: Lovers

Bio: A frog-goddess in Egyptian mythology associated with fertility and the later stages of childbirth. She breathed life into the new body of Horus during his birth. She is also considered to be an aspect of Isis.

Name: Nemhain

Arcana: Adjustment

Bio: Along with Badb Catha and Macha, Nemhain was part of a trio of goddesses that represented various aspects of the goddess Morrigan. She represented the state of frenzy and panic and often created such feelings in armies, causing those of such states to attack both allies and enemies in rage.

Name: Bicorn

Arcana: Hermit

Bio: An evil creature with two curving horns. It represents impurity, unlike the Unicorn. Said to be derived from Re'em in the Bible. Another legend says that it feeds off of disloyal husbands.

Name: Mandrake

Arcana: Fortune

Bio: A magical plant whose roots look like a human. They are valued for their healing properties in potions, but the screams they let out when pulled from the ground will kill anyone who hears them.

Name: Tesso

Arcana: Devil

Bio: Tesso was originally a Buddhist monk named Raigo, however, due to being slighted in life he enacted a hunger strike which led to his death. Afterward, the anger he felt transformed his spirit into the demon.

Name: Cait Sith

Arcana: Passion

Bio: A fae beast from the Scottish highlands. Their kingdoms are in tree hollows or abandoned houses. Dog-sized, with vivid green eyes. Some live with humans, as they understand our speech.

Name: Nadja

Arcana: Faith

Bio: A mysterious fairy girl with green eyes and brown skin, wearing a short, white dress and a bone necklace. Her name comes from the young woman who appears in the eponymous novel by Andre Breton.


Byleth's Roster:

Freydis

Cait Sith

Apsaras

Sanzo

Heqet

Jack Ripper

Stolas

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