This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.

Also I don't own Dragonheart.

4/13 Sunday

Afternoon

"I sense Death."

Pelagio offered no further explanation of his cryptic words, his concentration now entirely devoted to evasion. Returning up the stairs to the top deck, Aiko realised that they had veered far off the course taking them to Mira's Land, instead headed for a smaller, rocky-looking island farther away from the masked serpent that still churned the waters.

"What are you doing?", she asked in bewilderment, pointing. "Mira-senpai's Land is that way!"

A lack of response irritated her further. "Pelagio, you're headed the wrong way! Is your sail broken?"

He said nothing. The serpent had finally recognised their retreat, swerving about to give chase through the rough waves, its frozen maw still obviously hungry for something precious of theirs. "Pelagio, STOP!"

Then they were at the small island, a spire of rock pitted with man-sized holes possibly denoting caves. "My sincerest apologies, my lady", Pelagio spoke at last, a fear-stricken voice emanating from all around her. "I... I must disobey, for this time. We must remain here for the time being, out of sight until the danger is past."

That made zero sense to her. Just a moment ago, he had been treating the emergence of a seaborne Shadow the size of a semi truck like a mere inconvenience.

"What?", she asked, still annoyed. They had lots of time to save Mirambela if one went by the tide, but it didn't feel that way to her. Every second felt like a waste. "Was it really that strong? Why'd you tell me to use the cannon then?"

"I would not run and hide from a mere Leviathan Shadow", Pelagio vowed, sounding offended at the suggestion. "Their strength varies from place to place, but I recognise that type, and it is one of the weaker varieties. Even with a single cannon, we could have vanquished it. No... I speak of Death. It draws near."

Aiko frowned. "Death? Pelagio, you're not making any sense. We need to get back to Mira-senpai's Land, while that snakey-thing is looking for us here. Come on! Hurry up!"

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw the ship's gangplank slide open. "My lady, please disembark. I am going to transform back to my knight shape now, and I do not wish for you to fall into the water."

Aiko stared over at their landing point, a dusty, uninviting gray shore with more rocks than solid ground. "No! Take us to Mira-senpai's Land, now! I... I command you!"

There was a long hesitation there, long enough for Aiko to move around and catch sight of the Shadow serpent once more. It seemed confused by their sudden disappearance, raging about aimlessly on the black waters instead of pursuing.

When he spoke next, it sounded as though every world was a herculean effort to produce. "I am... sorry, my lady. I cannot. I am... your sworn protector, and the course you wish me to pursue is certain death. Please disembark now."

Aiko spread her coat sleeved arms in surrender. "So what, we just abandon Mira-senpai? Maybe you don't care if she gets trapped there forever, but I do! Take us there, NOW! Or I'll really-"

Her threats cut off when a house-sized object shrouded in a blackness that hurt her eyes to look at for too long, darker than any other part of Faraway Lands thrust its way out of the sea, creating an even bigger splash than the Leviathan Shadow had made before plopping down on the waters.

With a scream of terror, she sprinted down the gangplank. By the time Pelagio had reverted to his smaller form and joined her there on the gray shore, she had recognised the massive intruder as another ship, one that was well over three times the length of than their vessel and larger than the Shadow as well.

Looking closer now, Aiko was able to partly pierce the cloak of midnight black surrounding the enormous ship. There were some patches of colour there, mostly eye-stinging crimson red interspersed with charcoal black timber that burned without ever collapsing, and the bone white of countless lengths of rusty chains covering it in a seemingly nonsensical arrangement. The chains rattled eerily as the ship sped across the waves at high speeds, a prominent lance of a bow defiantly poking up out of the water. Even its sails were made out of rattling chains shifting in the wind, yet it somehow moved at an impressively fast clip.

"That, my lady, is why we had to flee", Pelagio told her apologetically once he had fully reverted to his smaller form, the round eyes on the side of his head drawn inwards. "That is the Reaper's ship, the unstoppable tide of absolute Death. I sensed its approach, thankfully."

Aiko could only stare at it, wide-eyed. Sure enough, if she concentrated, she could feel what her protector must have sensed earlier. The massive galleon positively radiated supernatural dread in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with its shape or colour. Even if the ship had been pink and covered in rainbows and kittens, she still would have felt the aura of its power and stayed well clear of it.

The Leviathan Shadow did not seem to possess such senses. To it, one ship was the same as another- meals to be devoured, and this was the bigger meal by far. It swerved again toward the new meal, frozen jaws opening just a tad wider to take a massive bite out of the Reaper's port side.

Then, as they watched in mutual awe, a flare of luminous golden energy powerful enough to light up the entire sea lanced out and pierced the Shadow's maw, causing it to rear back and howl in raw animal pain. As the ship glided past, a flare of blood red took it in the side with similar results.

"Lightning magic", Pelagio identified the attack dourly. "And Curse magic, coming from those cannons. The most powerful level of those elements, Ziodyne and Eigadyne."

Aiko continued to stare. She counted six square bolted metal hatches in a row holding the elementally-charged cannons, and that was only on one side of the Reaper's ship. Twelve cannons in total. As it curved around the madly thrashing Shadow for another broadside volley, a cannon on the other side opened up with another herculean blast of neon pink.

"Psychokinetic power", Pelagio commented. "Psiodyne. Each of those cannons must use a different element at its highest calibre."

The Leviathan Shadow was a smoking wreck now. Its jaw was fractured and it could not retreat with the shape its fins and tail were in. It couldn't evade at all as the Reaper came around into a ramming position. Now Aiko could more easily make out the shining weapon at the front of the bowsprit more easily as it extended, which tore into what remained of the Shadow's mask. Its thirteenth weapon was a great shining scythe, hanging down from the tip and cutting into and through the creature's dark flesh as if it were warm butter.

She turned away, not wanting to view the resulting carnage she was hearing. She knelt down and faced her protector with a face of absolute honesty. "S-sir Pelagio... I... I am so terribly sorry that I yelled at you just now. I didn't know. I didn't sense what was coming."

But the side-mounted falcon's eyes on Pelagio's helmet showed no anger as they blinked at her, reflecting instead the screaming terror he himself felt inside. "It is quite alright, my lady. You had never witnessed the Reaper of the seas before. I have. Any Shadow or ship which falls into its sights is doomed. Had we remained there to battle the Leviathan Shadow, we would most certainly have been reaped as well."

Aiko could only shake her head, looking back at the cloaked ship and hearing its countless rusted chains rattle their victory. "Leviathan Shadows, and the Reaper... this dimension is a terrible place", she observed as if reminding herself of that fact.

The black-shrouded juggernaut did not leave right away either. It continued sailing about the general area in a wide circle for several tense minutes, whatever passed for its unseen 'crew' doubtless searching the nearby islands for any sign of life to extinguish.

After what felt like hours of pent-up terror, the Reaper submerged once more, leaving behind only calm waters lit up with the stars within them. After that, Pelagio insisted on waiting several additional minutes, just to be absolutely certain that they weren't being baited into emerging from their hiding spot.

Even then, Aiko couldn't help periodically looking over her shoulder for some sign of Death incarnate continuing to hunt them, as it did all others in this world or any other who lived and breathed as mortals.

Mirambela's Land showed no change that they could see on disembarking. Even though Aiko now knew its true nature and the ugly truths concealed in the chasm below the complex webs of walkways and hovering platforms, the 'main' portion remained an enchanting, brightly-lit wonderland of clattering, beeping retro-future tech that was fun just to look at.

She saw none of this at first. Once they were ashore and certain that no Shadows would come out to meet them, she stepped off Pelagio's pristine main deck onto the sands... and immediately bent over as if she would vomit.

"My lady!", Pelagio called in worry once he had returned to his bird-knight form once more. "Are you well? Shall we retreat and get you to a doctor in your world?"

She couldn't answer. She didn't know the answer. For the first time since her awakening, she was lost.

"I...", she whispered in feverish pain, "I... I can't move! I can't take one more step..."

Pelagio said nothing to that. He knelt down beside her, massive round eyes not that far off from Igor's peering into hers with the utmost concern.

"The Reaper", Aiko panted by way of explanation. "That... was what finally did it for me, I think."

"The Reaper frightens all", Pelagio assured her stoically. "Only a complete fool would not be afraid of it. I have only survived here as long as I have by staying well clear of that cursed ship during my travels. I am a knight, your loyal protector, yet even I... the Reaper is the one thing in this world or any other that I truly fear."

"No", Aiko protested as her hands shot out to stop her falling completely down to the ground. The anger in her tone was not for Pelagio, but for herself. "I fought the Shadows yesterday, but... it really hit me, for the first time, just now. We could lose. If we lose to a Shadow here... we die. We'll die here, and no one will ever find us. We'll just disappear, like Furusato-san and Mira-senpai."

Her head moved up, causing her hat to fall off and allowing Pelagio to see the face beneath streaked with tears. "Gone. Gone forever. Even my mom... even..."

Less certain, but unwilling to leave her be, Pelagio nodded. "That is the way of things in Faraway Lands, my lady. This is the sea of human consciousness. In this dimension, the ultimate rule is kill or be killed. Living here has conditioned me to that hard fact, but I forgot that you had not. My sincerest apologies."

Aiko leaned back, coat sleeved arms folded tightly over her knees, looking at the shore and the dark waters around it as if she seeing them for the first time. She wished he hadn't apologised, and her next words were sullen whispers.

"...No. I could go back. No one will know. We could sail back to Yume Bay and forget I ever learned about this place. I could go back to Koashimizu academy. No one will know. I could go to class, and do my midterms, and go shopping with Hayato-senpai and talk about cute boys and get my nails done and wear pretty clothes, and everything else a girl my age is supposed to do. Be normal. No one will know."

The bird-knight hesitated. "That has always been an option for you, my lady."

"Forget everything", she croaked bleakly, almost sounding as if she was genuinely considering that path.

"No one will know. Close my eyes and just count down the days as the waves start calming and the tide starts to go out, and wait for Mira-senpai's body to wash up on the shore, and pretend I don't know anything about it. No one will know. No one will know... except for me. I'll know that I could have helped Mira-senpai and chose not to... and that's the only one that really matters, isn't it?"

"I will know", Pelagio offered mildly. "But I would never judge you for making that decision. Our current course is an extremely dangerous one. I would prefer very much to keep you safe, my lady."

But Aiko stood back up and grabbed her hat off the sands. Her tears were gone. Her fear was... tamed, at least for now. It wasn't Anne Bonny's voice prompting her to action. It was hers. I am Thou... Neither of us can yield to evil... because you are me, and I am you. And I was made aware of this other side of me for a reason. To stop the world's regression, right? Isn't that what Mr. Igor and Bart-kun said?

She stepped forward, past her protector, towards the start of the metal forest. "Come on, sir Pelagio. We have an important job to do. Any Shadows who try to stop us, and won't listen to reason, will die on our blades."

Pelagio drew his sword and followed behind her without another word.

Neither of them were surprised to see a heavy guard around the central spire. Four of the large box robots stood ready, with countless fliers close enough to join them when and if the alarm sounded. The massive golden-eyed cyborg wearing Mirambela's face was nowhere to be seen, but Aiko considered it likely that she could be summoned quickly when there was trouble.

"Trying to fight past so many powerful Shadows would be a losing proposition, to say the least", Pelagio observed beside her. "And the front door may not even open for us. Do you have a better proposal, my lady?"

She smiled back at him, the spry confidence of her primary Persona radiating out now. "I do, in fact. Let's go find a Shadow all on his own. Or her own. Do Shadows even have genders?"

Pelagio obviously hadn't expected such a strange question, but he replied smoothly. "For all intents and purposes, yes. The Shadow of your friend shares in her gender both physically and mentally, and I doubt you could make the argument that the Fomor Shadow you took into yourself was anything but masculine. It matters little. Whether they are male or female, Shadows are equally dangerous foes, my lady."

The Shadow that they ended up ambushing was another male. A beige-furred monkey in exotic medieval combat gear, once he had shed the mask of machinehood and started to fight them seriously. That was one major change that Aiko had noticed- the sentry robots that periodically accosted them no longer bothered pretending once they caught up to the intruders. They used their full strength, shedding their metal coating right from the start.

They'd learned not to underestimate a Persona-user. Or Pelagio, who remained the better physical fighter despite lacking a Persona.

The sword-wielding monkey turned out to be quite strong, though she had a feeling the large box robots would be even stronger once they shed their masks. When that Shadow beat her cutlass down and waded through her Aqua spell like it was a mere summer rain, she reached into herself for the other mask, the consciousness which had willingly joined with her to free his kin from machine slavery. "Fomor, smash them!"

The fat goat creature seemed bigger than she remembered when it was floating behind her, but the raw strength he lent to Aiko could actually be felt in her arms and legs. Whoaaaa! Is this what bodybuilders feel like? Cool! Feels kind of heavy though.

Though more sluggish than before and unable to use Aqua or the healing Dia skill, Aiko found that she could now cut through the monkey's guard with one grand slash of her weapon. Noticing Pelagio's sword at his throat, the Shadow discarded his own and fell back, speaking in a jittery voice. "W-wait! Spare me! You're warriors, right? I surrender!"

"I thought so", Aiko said, feeling strangely satisfied that the plan- her plan- was going so well for once. "Actually, we just wanted to ask you how to use the lifts."

The Shadow blinked, disbelieving. "Seriously? You attacked me for that? You're nuts, lady!"

Pelagio shrugged whimsically. "Had we simply asked you, you would have attacked us first, yes?"

The crowned monkey could only agree with that. "Well, yeah. Princess Mira doesn't want any intruders around for the cleansing", he said. "Whatever, I hate pretending to be a damn robot anyway. Chafes my fur."

"Then why do you?", Aiko asked him with legitimate interest now.

The Shadow made a sullen face. "Because Princess Mira wanted it, duh. She's so powerful it's scary, and once I was trapped in her Land, I couldn't get out! Some of my brothers are into the whole 'beep boop, I am a robot' thing, but I'm sure as hell not! No freakin' way!"

"Then show us how to operate the lifts", Aiko ordered, "and you can go free. Just run to the shore."

The monkey scowled. "Oh sure, like it's that easy. Okay, fine."

As she had witnessed yesterday, activating the lifts that took people and Shadows to the various higher and lower levels of Mira's Land was needlessly, painstakingly complicated. The user had to activate one switch among several, entering into an unlabelled panel of buttons a lengthy code designating if the user wanted to go up or down, as well as a second code identifying them as a citizen or robot, taking the demon monkey's ID for themselves. They had him repeat the entire procedure several times just to be sure they both had it memorised.

"Okay. I think I've got it now", Aiko said, putting up one hand to pull down the brim of her hat. "That should work. Thank you so much for your help, Shadow-san."

Once again, the Shadow seemed disarmed by her showing him such courtesy, considering they had been trying to cut each other up with swords moments before. He took a few loping steps away from the lift before pausing. "Hey... wait a sec. You two seem... different. You fight, but you're not assholes about it. Like I said, escaping from here isn't as easy as you think for us Shadows. Maybe I could come with?"

They were both equally surprised by the offer, but Aiko saw no harm in stretching out one gloved hand to him. "If you desire that, you're welcome to come along."

The monkey pumped his sword arm and grinned ferociously, revealing a row of feral teeth. "Hells yeah! Oh yeah, I remember now... I'm no Shadow. I'm Onkot, a demon from the sea of human consciousness! Time for some righteous payback!" Then, just as Fomor had done, he became a stream of glowing particles that rushed into Aiko's face, resolving into another mask before fading.

"What a strange fellow", Pelagio remarked once he was gone. "Forgive my concern, my lady, but I must ask... do you feel any changes in yourself whilst using the Persona of Fomor?"

Aiko shrugged. It was a valid question, and she could see where he was going with it. Personas are a product of the mind. If he's right, I might end up behaving more like Onkot or Fomor whenever I use them, and those two are far from the worst personalities we've seen in Shadows who might join with me. That winged Shadow I killed earlier was talking about eating delicious humans... yuck.

Fortunately, she felt no such shift in her perspective as she changed her Persona back to Anne Bonny, merely a decrease in strength and toughness, and an increase in swiftness and magic capability. "No, it's fine. The only other voice I hear is captain Bonny's, which is also mine. The others are quiet. I think I'll limit my offers for now though, just to be safe."

The lift took them up to the highest point of the surrounding walkways, and as they stepped off it they saw the quartet of violet images projecting from the spire again. This time from a much lesser angle, so they could both make out the face of the shape before them despite it being much smaller than previously.

To Aiko's shock, it was Mirambela. The real Mirambela, not the horrible robot bearing her face. She wore a slimmer version of the kind of retro-future fasion her cognitions favoured, though it was difficult to make out details from here. And for the first time since she had seen her roommate, she looked genuinely happy.

"Hello everyone!", Mira smiled wide and honest, the quarter of projectors sending her accented words to everywhere in her Land. "I hope everyone's having a good day today. You've all been so kind to me. I'm already working on some great new inventions that will make your lives more enjoyable, but in the meantime I'd like to indulge in one of my other passions, if that's alright with you."

She need not have worried about being polite, Aiko noted. Mira's scattered audience was hanging on her every word, furtively talking to each other about what their genius princess was going to do for them this time.

The image on all for projectors grew several sizes, and as happy music played, the four Miras... began to dance.

The sight held Aiko and Pelagio in place for a moment as well, for Mira wasn't bad. Aiko couldn't recognize the exact style, but there was a natural dancer's grace in her step, twirling as she leaped and wheeled her slender arms about with practised ease. The crowd voiced their approval and Aiko wanted to watch more until she remembered why they were there and touched her guardian's shoulder.

"Come on. This is the perfect distraction."

Pelagio's side eyes blinked in confusion. "Distraction? For what?"

Aiko pointed down. From their raised perch, one of the large, wire-festooned tubes jutted out from their current 'tree' all the way to the uppermost quarter of the central spire. Despite being far larger than any power cable, it was only two feet wide. "It's a bit tight", she admitted gingerly. "But so long as none of the flying Shadows attack us, we'll be fine. I don't suppose you can transform into your falcon form here?"

Pelagio clicked his beak in regret, his talons digging into the metal. "Sadly not. Here, I can only shift between this form and ship form. But you needn't worry- I still possess excellent balance. Will you be alright with this, my lady?"

"I'll have to be", Aiko said with more bravado than she felt, staunchly refusing to look all the way down. Falling from there was virtually guaranteed to be fatal unless Faraway Lands used completely different rules for gravity than she was used to. "This is all for Senpai."

The next fifteen minutes were a blur, a seemingly endless crawl along the pole stretching over an abyss of lights. More than once Aiko forgot her own maxim, and the sight of it nearly caused her to fall only to pull back up at the last moment. All the while, Mira continued to dance through the rainbow-lit skies, heedless of the two intruders crawling inch by inch towards the metal walls of her inner sanctum.

"Quite graceful", Pelagio observed admiringly. Unlike Aiko, his sense of balance was exactly as he boasted, and he could afford to look around instead of crawling along the pole at an ant's pace. "For a human, I mean."

They were a mere two meters away from a balcony when the dancing ended, prompting an echoing wave of applause. Aiko managed to crane her neck up to the now-massive holographic image they were parked beneath, which ended its gyrations and bowed.

"Thank you", Mirambela exulted joyously. "Thank you, everyone. Even in here, I can hear your cheers. I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll continue to work on it and make it better, just as I'll keep working on my inventions." She winked at her audience and belted out a laugh across the area, one of complete satisfaction. "Stay tuned to find out which is next!"

"We love you, princess Mira!", the crowd''s booming chorus replied.

Aiko could make no reply of her own until she was safely onto the balcony. The moment she was, she heard the rhythmic gliding noise that she had come to associate with the flying Shadows, and saw two of them darting past the pole as their patrol patterns resumed once the 'event' was over. Thankfully, they weren't watching the balcony, and it wasn't long before Pelagio found a hatch leading inside.

"She really does seem to be happy here", Aiko noted with a tinge of regret, glancing along the tech-ridden corridor ahead of them. Healthy purple lights lined it as well, keeping the entire sanctum well-illuminated. "Of course, I doubt that she knows how some of the cognitions here are treated, or that if she stays here too long, she can't ever come back."

"Then you must reveal to her the truth", Pelagio said sternly, preparing his shield and broadsword. "That the world of her dreams is nothing but a honey-scented trap for her soul."

Aiko nodded. "I know. I've read some stories like this. None of it is real."

That theory only gained more credence as they moved together into the highest floors of the central spire. Though the Shadow patrols were sparse here, Aiko felt her hair standing on end as they passed by a large number of stationary machines. They looked like the supercomputers found in high-end data centers, towering monoliths of wiring and lights and circuit plates that looked too complicated and powerful for any human to ever build, much less Mira.

Eventually, without heading in any specific direction except up, the two found themselves in a wide-set computer room with benches framed around a large screen. The machines hummed and clattered endlessly around them but made no sign of a threat, and Aiko leaned down to take a brief rest.

"I wonder what Furusato-san's Land is like", she mused to her protector. "How would it convince her to stay there, and never return? I can't imagine."

"I can offer no assistance with that", the bird-knight said after taking his own seat. "Like you, I never knew the girl in question. I only know that despair is what brings humans to the Yume Bay, desperately seeking a better place to call their home."

Aiko didn't buy that theory. "That's only because they don't know it can become permanent. To them, it's kind of like an amusement park with no lines at the rides, and all the food is free. If they knew that their visit might be forever, they'd run back home right away."

Pelagio looked momentarily worried, but merely went back to spot-checking his weapon for marks. "If you say so, my lady." Finishing up, he looked back at the screen and his beak tightened. "Hmph. This must be the plans for the 'cleanse' we've heard about. How dreadful."

Aiko followed his gaze and gulped. Sure enough, the screen was displaying a map of the chasm area in Mira's Land. It was larger than Aiko thought, but over a dozen large groups of Shadows had been organised into a comprehensive sweep that covered the entire place. Next to the map stood the massive number '7' indicating how many days there were to go before it began.

"At least she's doing something for them, cleaning up that dirty place", Aiko commented. Seeing the creeping doubt on Pelagio's beaked face made her realise that she was mistaken, however. "Sir Pelagio?"

The bird-knight had tensed up, knowing his next words were crucial. "My lady, I... That is to say... This is not a 'spring cleaning' as you have suggested. Remember that the robots here have referred to us, and by extension all the poor souls down in the chasm, as 'filth'. In seven days, they plan to cleanse the entire Land of all the 'filth'."

That rocked her. She stood and beheld the screen anew. Coloured lines showing patterns that previously seemed innocent now seemed sinister. "That... that's inhuman! Why would they ever do that?!"

"Stupid filth detected."

The words had not come from Pelagio, or anyone else easily visible in the room. Instead, one of the supercomputers seemed to spring to life, components shifting around into a bulky bipedal shape with a blank screen for a face. Aiko saw that it was even bigger than Mira's Shadow, and it looked and sounded just as unfriendly as her.

"So stupid", the sentry's voice droned loudly in the secluded chamber, managing to sound both arrogant and soullessly robotic at the same time. "The filth can't even process the reason. We will cleanse the Land because princess Mira orders us to. We are machines. Our only purpose is to obey the word of our creator. All else is irrelevant."

Weapon and Persona at the ready now, Aiko braced herself with a scowl. "Mira-senpai would never order that! That's horrible, killing people just because they aren't smart!"

The hulking monstrosity seemed to pause, but that was only a prelude for its transformation, throwing off its shell as the other Shadows had. The screen cracked as the metal plating began to slide off into a red puddle. When it had reformed, the resulting enemy was nearly as tall as before, and far slimmer.

It was also still some degree of metal, various colours of the same unidentifiable substance composing its entire body. The dominant colour was a gleaming bronze shade, but they also spotted horned black metal adorning the creature's head like android hair, as well as an undergarment shape covering its waist. Green metal formed a ring of flower petals collaring its neck, and a plate of magenta armour adorned its chest, bearing a kanji symbol that Aiko was too busy to recognise. Its fists were collared in black as well, and a ragged scarf of the same flowery magenta shade trailed from the tight green collar.

"Irrelevant", a bronze metal face frozen into a permanent grin spoke, the only visual sign being the way its mouth and eye lights lit up with each syllable, though it sounded less robotic now. "We are machines. Whether an order is right or wrong is irrelevant. If princess Mira gives an order, then we must obey. We are her sworn protectors, constructed by her own glorious hands... and you, stupid filth, are unwelcome here. You must be purged."

Pelagio blinked at that those words when he heard them, but it wasn't enough to drop his guard. "Consider yourself warned, Shadow", he replied as he brandished his sword, cutting through the sterile air of the room. "You are not the only one who must protect someone precious! En garde!"

As he charged, Aiko chose her own front and reached down into the depths of her mind once more to retrieve a mask. "Onkot, ravage him!" As expected, the she could feel how the shift in Personas bolstered both strength and swiftness this time around. More noteworthy to her was the way the knowledge of certain skills suddenly popped into her mind, just as they had when Anne Bonny had first awakened.

"Alright!" She drew the cutlass with a flourish, first focusing with her other hand. "Let's try this! Tarukaja!"

The result of that skill borrowed from Onkot could be measured from one's own body as well. There was a brief glow of red all around her, then Aiko's eyes widened as she felt even more strength pouring in, to the point that she worried her body might not hold it all. Across from her, Pelagio crashed into the metal golem-looking Shadow with full force, cutting in several times with his speed.

However, this didn't seem to have nearly the effect it had on the Fomor or even Onkot. Squat bronze arms curled into fists bearing mere scratches, the Shadow punched back with twice the force, sending the bird-knight flying away to crash into a screen as he screeched in pain. Despite Aiko's boosted strength, she found that her cutlass did little better, only leaving a handful of small scars along the shining exterior.

"Filth trying to threaten me with primitive weapons?", the Shadow boasted contemptuously as it flexed one brawny fist. "Pitiful. I will end your idiotic struggles as commanded... Agi!"

By the time Pelagio had recognised the spell's name, it had already covered Aiko in a knot of blazing fire, her scream of pain tearing at his heart. Yet, she still maintained enough focus to call to him in turn. "Damn... he's too well-armoured! Distract him, and I'll try Aqua!"

Her guardian lunged out of the wreckage and followed the command, painful as that ended up being for him. By the time he had flown back again on an even stronger punch from the metallic Shadow, Aiko was ready with her original Persona, a violet gush of water battering the creature's chest plating. It seemed to have a more noticeable effect, even pushing the giant back several feet until it straightened up and focused its frozen gaze upon her.

"The filth has learned some tricks", he observed. "But not enough to bridge the gap between her and princess Mira's brilliance, and not nearly enough to defeat her sworn guardian!" He raised both arms up now, fists and face both flashing rapidly. "Maragi!"

Though the sensitive equipment and screens around them remained unburnt, the thick wreath of fire covered them both now. Aiko fell to one knee, but not before chanting another spell. The restoring green glow of Dia covered Pelagio, but as he sat up he saw to his horror that her own burns remained and she was moving sluggishly. "My lady... why?"

"Go", Aiko gritted out, clearly fighting back hideous pain. "You can get out... run... he's too much..."

The meaning of her words sank in, and Pelagio let out a defiant animal scream as though he was back in the human world, sinking his talons into another enemy's arms. His frenzy of sword slashes bit into soaked armour plating, leaving behind a multitude of dents and scratches... but the Shadow still stood. He didn't even see the Shadow's wind-up punch before he felt himself careening back into the benches, only barely able to hear the Shadow's next words through the haze.

"A foolish move. That filth has magic that could damage and even destroy me, and she is also capable of healing, while it appears that you are not. She should have healed herself, and blasted me with more water while you burned to ash. But what else is to be expected of stupid filth? Maragi!"

No... she sacrificed herself for me... my lady...

Then everything was burning blistering scorching pain and he could sense little else until he felt the flames quenched, and he was suddenly soaked as if he'd taken an accidental dip into Yume Bay. Quenched... by water? Don't tell me...

Groaning, Pelagio vaulted back up out of the wreckage. Aiko had trails of dark smoke leaking off her outfit now, barely standing after several such burns. Not 'barely', Pelagio realized in blank shock- one more desperate healing spell covered him, and then she pitched forward, out like a light.

She wants me to run, Pelagio knew, the realization clawing at his mind. To save myself, and try to find another way to save her friend. She would give her very life to that goal, just as she said... no. This is not how it should be. I am her sworn protector! I am... I am...

"Princess Mira's orders are absolute. Goodbye, filth."

The Shadow's steel fists rose, preparing to conjure another fire spell... and stopped.

It took him a moment to realise that everything else had stopped too.

He sat there lost in his thoughts, coming to grips with his failure to protect Aiko as he had vowed.

Failure. Unacceptable. Failure. I swore to protect my lady, yet what have I accomplished, truly? Shipped her about Faraway Lands?

A rat-eaten barge could have done as much. All I have to offer are my sword and shield, both of which have proven useless here... accomplished nothing.

Nothing. Yes, that's right. I was originally nothing, having no memory of my purpose beyond seeking her out and protecting her. No better than that mindless automaton.

Until a new voice cut into his thoughts unbidden. It was male, young and a bit too upbeat, yet it also bore the lamenting tone of one accustomed to bloodshed in service of a higher cause. And... somehow, he knew... that the voice was his own, one which he'd merely forgotten to listen to.

You cannot allow this grievous sin to pass. It is not honourable.

I don't know... I can't remember... Why do I exist?

The code, the young man's voice jarred him from his stupor. If nothing else relevant exists for you, you must remember the code. A knight is sworn to valour.

The images flooded in as the voice guided him, each one clearly depicting Pelagio not through his own eyes, but through Aiko's. His first attack in her name, when he had severed the arms of the two guard robots and raised his blade to face the others against all odds.

His heart knows only virtue.

His falcon form now, watching Aiko from a rocky perch, always wary of any who might attack the one he had declared his protection of.

His blade defends the helpless.

Pelagio diving down, cutting deep into the flesh of Benihime Kujou's arm, and watching as her two victims fled in safety.

His might upholds the weak.

Pelagio educating Aiko about the Reaper's ship, disobeying her orders to keep them safe no matter how hard it was for him to go against her.

His word speaks only truth. That is the difference, between you and this mechanical abomination. He serves his master out of fear, and would never disobey an order even if he knew it to be a wicked command. Such a being is not a protector, but merely a slave. Would you slay humans because your lady ordered you to?

...No.

What would you do?

Pelagio didn't need to think about the question for long. The answer was right there, waiting for him to put it into words.

I would ask her the reason for her command. And, if that reason was not honourable, then I would have to refuse to obey my lady regardless of the punishment. To do otherwise would be to disgrace both myself and the one whom I have vowed to protect. Even if I must protect her from wicked impulses.

The other voice within him sounded satisfied. So it is, and so you are. Thus, our minds are as one. I Am Thou. Thou Art I. We have sealed our binding contract under oath. Now... Break your chains of faithlessness! Unleash thy power, and pillage this dismal dawn of illusions!

The voice was gone. Time resumed unhindered, beginning with the noise of unseen shackles shattering. Seeing Pelagio rise so suddenly out of the ashes of the consoles caused the huge bronze Shadow to hesitate, if only for a moment.

Pelagio stood, no longer caring of the damage covering his armoured body. The two round bird's eyes on the sides of his helmet, both of them glowing molten gold, locked into the frozen mask of his enemy.

"Hmph! You pitiful wretch!", he ground out through a burned beak, his disapproval hanging in the air like a curse. "A true warrior cannot fall to a trifling servant! I am Sir Pelagio, devoted champion of lady Aiko Tsuruga! I am the Guardian! My Persona, my innermost strength shall aid in this duel of honour... His wrath undoes the wicked! I bid thee, come forward, GALAHAD!"

The Shadow's dead metal eyes moved upwards, beholding the power now manifesting behind his opponent in a great clamour. A blond-haired young man, eyes shining an inhuman icy blue, clad from foot to neck in thick scaled armour that showed evidence of hundreds of past injuries in the scrapes and gashes covering it. A rune-covered sword much like Pelagio's own was clutched in his clasped mail gloves, the blade extending all the way down to his steel-encased feet. A regal blue cape ran down his back, forever fluttering on an invisible wind, and upon his chest plate was the emblem of a dragon.

Knowing the victory already in his grasp, Pelagio raised his own blade as Galahad copied his action, both bird and man crying out to the heavens. "We shall slay this vile enemy! Frei!"

"Weak filth", the Shadow snarled, no longer holding any pretence of being mechanical as it raised both arms to complete its own spell. "I'll burn-"

Anything else he might have said was cut off when the room was rocked a neon-blue explosion fully the size of Pelagio, eating into the creature's armour and blasting it across the room as its own punches had done to him. Off to the side, Pelagio could see the smaller figure of Aiko slowly rising back to her feet, the sudden noise and light awakening her.

Charging across the room, he raised the wide steel shield that had been at his side since before he could remember. What he said next, however, had been forgotten for quite some time until now. "Praesi!"

The bronze giant rose as well, its voice conveying the fury its face could not, not even noticing the transparent white shell that was now covering the bird-knight. "Urgh... where did that come from? Filth should not be able to use such powers! Princess Mira commands your death, and so it will be!"

The giant's fist flew out, the punch just as devastating as before. Caught up in the charge, there was no way for Pelagio to avoid it. The room filled with the clang of impact... and Pelagio, unflinching, brought his sword handle down on the extended fist, nearly breaking it off entirely.

It was the Shadow's turn to scream in raw pain, its turn to fall back in disbelief. "W-what...?"

Pelagio, uncaring, turned over the flat of his sword so that pointed directly into the giant's face. "FREI!"

The domed blue explosion rang out again, and now the false machine toppled over completely, the smooth metal of its body now a smouldering wreck riddled with fissures. The bird-knight marched over, uncaring of the frightened noises the Shadow was making from his spot on the ground.

"Damn it! How could he have my weak point... no! NO! I serve princess Mira! I am a machine, an extension of her glorious will! She is more wonderful than you could ever know... so why..."

An underhand sword slash forcibly brought the ruined creature back to its feet, and Pelagio pointed his blade at the kanji upon its tattered chest plate.

"Submitting yourself entirely to the will of the strong does not make you strong, wretch. It makes you weak and dependent, never once making your own decisions. I have survived in this dimension without the fine company of my lady for years, and should the time come for her to depart this mortal coil, I shall continue to live on, as my own being."

A third Frei explosion blasted the creature back, both its arms now nothing but smoking stumps. Instead the colossal bronze sentry stood up on its burned legs, able only to wait for the killing blow. Or...?

The broadsword's tip closed until it was practically in his face, and the helmeted eyes narrowed into raptor slits. "You are merely a slave, dear Shadow. Want emancipation?"

"Filth would not understand. We are machines. We exist to serve she who built us. That is all I am capable of. That is all-"

"Fool", Pelagio remarked dismissively. "Mirambela Sorano did not build you. You were merely tricked into believing that. Tricked by her Shadow."

The twisted mask slanted, looking as though it might fall off... and then the body leaned forward so that its twisted arm stumps pointed at Aiko. "Lying bastard... I will make you feel the pain of losing the one you protect! AGI!"

The enchanted flames gathered once more, flaring out until they impacted the transparent shell that suddenly covered Aiko. Though it shattered immediately, that was enough time for the fire to dissipate. Enough time for Pelagio's sword drive into the Shadow's fragmented face, reducing it at last to scatterings of dark red fluid.

Pelagio rose with his eyes shut. He was no longer surprised at the way his injuries were suddenly lifting away from him like evaporating water, the welcome green glow of Dia restoring his battered armour. "I thank you, my lady. For this healing, and other favours."

Aiko stood as well, once she had finished with her own injuries. Neither of them exactly looked pristine, but they could both walk and fight if need be. The pride on her face spoke volumes. "You did it. I knew you could. Well done, Sir Pelagio. That was incredible."

He stopped, about to explain that it was Galahad's power instead of his own which had carried the day, then remembered that the Persona had actually been born from his own mental depths, his other self. "I... must apologise to you well. I know now that I made an error in judgement, attacking your friend at the coast. To do so without seeking your approval first was to show a lack of trust in your own judgement of character."

Aiko closed with him, tenderly removing a stray bit of burned debris from his shoulder as she smiled. "I understand. You just wanted to protect me, right? You thought he was going to try something with me. Sounds like you've been watching too much TV. Not every old man you see is a pervert only interested in young girls, okay? Although... if you do see any of those types, feel free to go nuts."

Fighting back a chuckle, Pelagio settled on clicking his beak. "I am not yet done. I fear that... I must end my oath to you now."

Shocked by his words, she removed her hat, clutching it to her chest. "Huh? What do you mean? I thought you wanted to protect me."

"I do", the bird-knight affirmed strongly. "Gods, yes I do. But I had no right to take an oath of protection over you, not when I have no idea what compelled me to do so in the first place. You see... I have no memory of my time before I began to sail the seas of Faraway Lands on my own. I remember waking up on some island... and there was a compulsion already there. I knew at once who you were, and that I had to protect you at all costs. Yet... until I met you, never once did I ask myself why. Why this particular girl out of all the humans in that world? Why did I need to travel to the human dimension and take on a new shape?"

Aiko studied the round bird eyes on the sides of his head closely, far from offended by his tale. Instead, she seemed impressed. "So you don't know why. I said it before, and I'll say it again... whatever the reason, I'm glad you did choose me. Why do you want to break the team up now?"

"Hmph. I do not", he corrected her hastily. "I seek release from the oath I had no right to make when I had no idea of the reasoning behind it, but you... your quest to rescue your friend is a noble one, my lady. And I will gladly stand by you and help you fulfil it. Not because of my oath! But because I wish to, more than anything. So now... would you please release me?"

Aiko made a show of thinking it over. "Ehhhh... no. Hah!"

Regaining himself, Pelagio boggled. "What? But... am I not your friend?"

"Of course we are!", she rapped his helmet smartly. "But if I'm going to release you from your oath, let's see here, what should I ask in return... ah! Got it. I want you to call me Aiko. Just once! Easy, right?"

Pelagio took a deep breath, his beak clicking in the silent, ruined chamber. "My la... uh. Very well. A... Ai...ko. Aiko. I ask that you please release me from my oath, Aiko."

Her eyes glittered in the near darkness. "Done! Does that mean I don't have to call you 'sir' any more? Can I call you Pela-tori? Or maybe just Pela-chan?"

"You may call me whatever you wish." Pulling himself back up, Pelagio turned back to the hall leading out of the computer room to hide the glimmer of warmth in his own large eyes, Galahad's aura of resolute courage boosting each stride he took down the corridor out of the destroyed computer room. "Even that. For you... are my lady."

Enemy Profile #1

Nata Taishi

Resistance - Physical, Guns, Fire (Null)

Weakness - Nuclear, Wind

Abilities - Agi, Maragi, Power Fist

Background

Also known as Nataku or Nezha. Said to have an eternally youthful form. Once fought against Sun Wukong. Committed suicide to atone for killing a dragon king, but he was brought back to life using holy roots, and thus he cannot age. Has the ability to spit fire from his mouth.

A/N: I don't normally like to mesh game mechanics with stories this closely, so this 'Enemy Profile' section is a bit of an experiment. If it's too immersion-breaking for anyone, I'll stop doing it.