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

5/17 Friday

After School

The Leviathan Shadows were restless today, and only after the third one fell to his cannons did Pelagio spot a sign of their goal through the orange-backed murk, sailing past the desolate wreck of Mira's hyper-technological forest without comment.

"There", he announced as his course was adjusted. "That one wasn't there during our last visit. It looks... odd."

"Not surprising", Aiko commented, leaning out over the rail to behold the place for herself. "It's a Land."

Still, she had to admit that this place defied their expectations. It began as a great cluster of heavy, dusty-looking rocks jutting up out of the water, forming an enormous drum rock at the top, but some kind of source further inside was flooding it with so much sunlight that it was impossible to see any kind of detail beyond the outer layer. The golden light spilled out through the cracks, making the entire Land appear to glow from within like an old-fashioned lantern.

A quick circle around revealed a single sandy shore as an entry point, protruding out of the main body like a tongue licking up the water, but upon arriving there the trio saw that the sand also extended into the Land itself, the dark rock ceiling transitioning into a bright blue sky without a single cloud. The sun-baked plains stretched out before them were completely flat, but hardly featureless- a row of structures rose from the plains, the most prominent among them being a tall wooden gate bearing the black stenciled name 'FREEDOM CITY'.

Choking back on the miasma of dust that seemed to be ever present here, Aiko surveyed the rows of wooden structures beyond with a mixture of wonderment and resignation. "Way bigger on the inside than the outside, definitely... and it was pretty big on the outside too. I figured it might be something like this after what we saw in his movie collection."

This dusty plain could only be a cognitive world, a mental fabrication. Only in this dimension could a place adhere so completely perfectly to every single commonality and 'rule' about spaghetti western action films. Multiple saloons were visible from here in various degrees of prosperity with the sound of some plonky piano song echoing from within, as well as a thick-walled bank and a heavily-barred jail. In the exact center of the town square, numerous boards had been put together with a rope hanging down from the top beam to create a primitive gallows. A dark plume of smoke from behind the town hall denoted the presence of a steam rail line and station.

Horses could be seen tied up to various wooden poles to prevent them escaping, and every human cognition they saw stuck firmly to the setting's 'dress code', most prominent among them being the wide-brimmed cowboy hats of brown, white and black on nearly every adult male in the vicinity. Tumbleweeds drifted raggedly about on the thick breeze, and most strikingly of all, the very dust present in the air seemed to affect the golden sunlight raining down on the town from above, somehow altering its color into a grainy sepia shade just like the kind seen in older films of that type.

Pelagio initially feared a response from the local cognitions, but they seemed more concerned with their own business. They walked around and talked with each other as though everything was normal, as if a bird-knight, a pirate and a dancer hadn't wandered into their midst from nowhere.

All except one, a crotchety voice calling out to them. "Hey there. Haven't seen folks like you 'round these parts before. Did you come from the gulch, or the mine?"

Aiko followed the sound to an elderly man mounted in a rocking chair on the porch of one of the ramshackle houses. His beard looked like it ought to be longer like the rest of his hair, but it had been cut off just beneath the chin, appearing as large gray bristles. Though his skin showed his age and the possible side effects of the lit cigar clenched in his lips, his dark tweed clothes looked fresh and new.

Of course they're new, she thought. This entire place didn't exist until six days ago.

"Um. Actually, we're not from around here", she replied defensively. "We're, uh, looking for someone."

The man took a drag and chuckled hoarsely. "Well, I'm someone, much as some folks 'round here might argue with me about it. But hey now, you say you're from the outside?"

Pelagio shot her a look he didn't use often, silently scolding her for once again making the grave mistake of speaking to a Land's cognitions and risking unwanted attention. Aiko ignored it- the fastest way to learn Julian's location would be to ask around, and Mira seemed to agree.

"Yes, sir", she said. "We're not from this Land."

Previously faded, scarred eyes lit up at that revelation, and the man leaned closer. "Best to keep that quiet if you can. The Sheriff and his deputies ain't too fond of outsiders here."

Aiko doubted it would be so simple to keep that a secret with how they looked. At least there was one person here who would be helpful. "What's your name, sir?"

The man removed his cigar and gave another light chuckle. "Well missy, I reckon that depends on who you'd be askin', eh? If you ask the folks 'round here, they'd say my name is George Rosea. Not that I mind, 'course."

George Rosea? Some relation of Julian we haven't met?

"Though, if you'd be askin' a few other folks outside the city, they'd call me Gentaro Rosea." Sensing their apprehension, the man shrugged casually. "Don't really matter to me one way or another, but for safety's sake, I'd say you folk had best call me George. Or just 'old man', if y'all like. I'm not real particular."

Gentaro. The one who died, Julian's grandfather. And Julian was there with him when it happened...

Sensing a trap, she flashed a brief look at Pelagio's large eyes before proceeding. "George, then. Can you tell us where your... where Julian-kun is?"

Blinking, he replaced the cigar. "Well now. Guess that's proof you're not from 'round here, if you don't know. The Sheriff's been out huntin' outlaws in Oppressor's Gulch."

"The Sheriff?", Mira repeated uncertainly. "That's Rosea-kun then?"

"Prolly his Shadow", Aiko warned her off. "Remember how yours was sort of running things behind the scenes in your Land, enslaving all the other Shadows?"

She made a pained grimace. "Don't remind me. Anyway, at least we know where to start looking. Oppressor's Gulch, right? Where's that?"

George absently pointed a gnarled finger ahead of them, past the gallows and the stables. "Just gotta keep headin' thataways until you reach the ravine. That's where people who've violated the Sheriff's freedoms went off to, tryin' to avoid the hangman's noose. I hear tell it's a rough kind of place. Better watch yourself if you're goin' there."

"But it's where we've got to go", Aiko told him, nodding courteously. "Thank you, uh, George. You really helped us out."

"Y'all best be careful if you're headed over there", he called as they began walking. "Lots o' nasty critters just waitin' to grab themselves a snack."

In other words, Shadows. "Don't worry, sir. We can handle ourselves."

Once they were clear and the exit gate was visible, she found herself looking into Pelagio's helmet-shuttered eyes once more. "Not so bad. We might be able to get to Julian-kun and have him home before dinner."

Then there was a metal clicking noise behind her and Mira froze up. "Saber..."

Pelagio's own fear eclipsed any smugness he might have otherwise displayed. "Hm. How strange. I believe that humans have a certain saying... about how claiming a task is too easy is an invitation to disaster?"

The men had emerged simultaneously from several blind alleys and doors, each one of them raising an old-fashioned revolver out of their leather holsters. Their appearance had been just as much of a fright to the other cognitions as Aiko's crew, leaving them to scatter back into their homes or simply the nearest building that could hide them.

Looking around in growing worry at the ambush, she counted five men masked by scarves of various colors around their mouths and noses, all of them wearing 'period-appropriate' hide duster jackets of brown and black cowboy hats. Her hand was on the hilt of her blade when a sixth one emerged from the bank, and then Pelagio's talon was clenched tight around her arm.

"I am sorry, my lady. We must refrain from attacking for now. They would shoot us before we could close the distance. Our chances of victory are nearly zero in this circumstance."

He was right, she realized. If the revolvers held by these attackers were anything like guns in the real world, attacking now would see at least one of them dead before it was over. Seeing no other way out, she hesitated.

The sixth man, unique among the group in that he carried two identical pistols on his gun belt of opposing black and white colors and wore a crisp red jacket only slightly dulled by the sepia shades, made a show of cocking his ear at those words while rapidly spinning one of his weapons around rapidly in his other hand like a toy.

"Heh. That's some real good advice coming from your masked friend there. Make just one wrong move, pretty girl... and I'll give you ten seconds to decide if you want to end up in a coffin... or a dumpster."

The three of them all stared back at the enemy leader in alarm, the row of guns pointed at them momentarily forgotten. Though this young man's face was well concealed by the combination of a large hat and a scarf, his bright eyes could still be plainly seen. Even had they not, the unnatural reverb in the leader's voice when he spoke would have brought them to the same conclusion anyway.

A spike of adrenaline propelled Aiko's head back up, so that she could stare back into those acid gold eyes focused on shooting her.

"You. It was you. You're that Shadow. You're the one who hurt Pela-tori."

The molten orbs narrowed, and now some distant cousin to Julian's voice was recognizable as he spoke over the low whistling of his spinning gun. "I've hurt a lot of people, girl. Can't remember 'em all. Whenever somebody tries threatening the Sheriff's freedom, the other deputies and me are here to make 'em regret it. Now, I hear tell someone's been asking 'round about findin' the Sheriff." That'd be you, I'd reckon?

The other five seemed to tense up at those words, aiming their weapons ever more precisely. Pelagio was right- if they tried to attack, at least one of them would be shot to death before it was over.

"Heh. Heheh! Jackpot! Don't you worry your pretty little head now", Julian's Shadow said, nodding to one of his men to produce a pair of curved manacles. "You'll get to see the Sheriff alright. Soon as he gets back from catching those outlaws in the gulch. 'Till then, you'll be our honored guests down at the prison."

Every muscle in her body screamed to fight it, to cut and run no matter the consequences, but she held firm. She had to, when those consequences could very well be her friends' lives. The cuffs weren't exactly tight, but she wouldn't be using a sword with them on, and bullets could be loosed before a Persona could be invoked.

They were led away, a joined chain of captives with another of the Shadow's men removing their weapons as they went. All she could do was continue staring a hole into their chief captor's pitiless gaze, memorizing those features as their new enemy.

This is not over, she thought at him as they passed by. I will get you. We will get you.

The sneering Shadow that hid behind a copy of her friend's face seemed to detect those thoughts in her, and find them amusing, expressing his own inner sentiments with eyes alone for all to perceive without actually speaking in that awful reverb.

Try it, pretty girl. I could use the amusement.

5/17 Friday

The jail cells were every bit as unpleasant as anyone familiar with their new 'setting' might have expected- dingy, dirty, damp and worse things made it difficult to believe that it hadn't even existed until a few short days ago. Pelagio took one look at the barred cells and insisted it was an outrage that the two girls would be put in such 'deplorable' conditions before one of Julian's men smacked him and stuffed him into the leftmost cell.

"I'm sorry", were the first words out of Aiko's mouth once they were all locked up. "I didn't think they were looking for us. It was just like Dancer's Land."

"It was not your fault, Saber", he answered just as quickly, raptor's eyes scanning the entire shabby jail for any avenue of escape. There was none. Just a single guard- one of the men who had brought them in- seated at a desk very much awake, and their weapons stored in bins on the opposite wall. "Better here than dead."

"For how much longer?", she replied, true fear creeping in at last. "I don't think that gallows in the square is just for show, do you?" Her instincts were rarely ever wrong when they were in this dimension. Death would come for them soon if they remained here, maybe even before the real Julian showed up, and she wasn't talking about the Reaper this time.

Mira seemed more calm about it, carefully studying the makeup of the prison like Pelagio had been. "They can't take away our Personas", she announced carefully. "Try destroying the bars!"

Happy to let off some steam, Aiko summoned up Jack Frost before Pelagio shook his head. "I... believe that would be unwise, for much the same reason as I was cautious of the enemy's guns."

With a single command, frost coated the bars holding her in the cramped space, but it melted away just as quickly as it had come. Oya's lightning had a similar result, and then the jailer yelled for them to quiet down, touching his gun holster meaningfully.

"Darn", Aiko threw up her gloved hands in defeat. "Why doesn't it work?!"

"These are not normal bars, my lady", their Guardian explained soberly. "Like those guns, this prison was created from your friend's own subconscious mind. They do not function as they would in your reality, but in the way that he believes they should. In other words, a single bullet could potentially kill us."

She frowned. Every time she thought she had understood everything about this other dimension, a new wrinkle was added. "But that cognitive bullet that hit you didn't kill you. It even disappeared."

"Because it was emerging from the gate into your own reality, where physics are different", Pelagio said, remembering his earlier injury sadly. "It could only exist there long enough to injure me, and then quickly vanish without a trace. The same thing would happen if a Shadow attempted to emerge from the gate. Your friend's cognition is not powerful enough to extend dominion over the human world, thankfully. There is quite enough trouble here already."

"No kidding." The long-faced jailer didn't seem to mind them talking, she noticed. Just so long as they didn't try to escape. If they did, there was no doubt that he would easily shoot them down with the gun on his belt before they could reach their weapons. "Even so, we can't just sit here and wait for the end!"

"No one said anything about that", Mira agreed thoughtfully before peering across into Pelagio's cell. "Wait, I know. Guardian, it's time for you to transform!"

Aiko smiled excitedly at the idea. Oh, right! I completely forgot he could do that. That'll destroy the back wall and let us out. We can even use the cannons on the Shadows if they try to stop-

Pelagio smiled too, but it was a regretful one. "I'm afraid that is impossible, Dancer. I am only able to shift into my boat form when I am exposed to the ethereal waters of Faraway Lands. Otherwise, I would have done so when we were ambushed earlier."

Mira slumped at that revelation, leaning back against the cell wall. "Vervlaks. I was hoping to see their reaction to that. Oh well."

"'Oh well'?", Aiko asked, her voice tinged with panic. "They're going to kill us if we can't get out of here!"

"Maybe", Mira conceded, still strangely calm. "Or maybe not. I just didn't want to do this, but if we have no other way..."

Oya emerged once more at Mira's call, so tall and lithe that her headdress was scraping the wooden beams that composed the ceiling until she floated down beside her host. The jailer rose again, this time brandishing his weapon as he shouted.

"Hey! You ladies best settle down now, 'fore I speed up yer sentence some!"

But when Mira spoke to him, it sounded worryingly like a Shadow's dual-layered voice. There was the familiar clipped accent of Mira, and then a shimmering lick of a sound that Aiko could only assume was the voice of her Persona, speaking together with her as they danced in synchronicity.

"But don't you want to see the true me, before we're gone?"

Pelagio and Aiko both stared, only beginning to perceive something that was clearly much more significant for the jailer, who had suddenly gone slack-jawed and limp. "Uh... I... uh...!"

"I want to show you. I want to show you the beauty of eternity. Come to me."

To their collective amazement, the jailer was actually fiddling with his key ring now, trying to find the one that would open Mira's cell. "Marin Karin. Charm magic", Pelagio whispered at last. "A power sometimes wielded by certain types of Shadows... and Personas as well, it seems."

For a moment Aiko grunted. None of her various Personas had that ability. Not even Lilim, who instead possessed the ability to put others to sleep among the rest of her talents. The bars rang out as they slid open, and Mira raised one bare hand to cup the man's chin like a sacred treasure.

"You... idiot."

Her next move broke the trance the man had been lulled into, a high kick that sent him flying back into the storage bins. In less than twenty seconds, Mira had grabbed the key ring and unlocked both of the other cells.

"I wasn't expecting that", Aiko admitted awkwardly. "Nice job though."

To her relief, Mira's voice had reverted to normal even though her Persona was still waiting to fight. "I told you, I didn't want to. It makes me feel... unclean. Still, if it gets us out of this dump..."

"We are not done with him yet, I fear", Pelagio pointed out as they grabbed their weapons. He was right- the jailer had finally risen from his position on the floor, frantically grasping at his gun to find it gone.

"I reckon it's time", he growled at the trio, all his good humor gone, "for me to exercise my juris-diction as jailer, and carry out a sentence!"

Before any of them could get within a sword's distance, the jailer surged, melting down into a puddle of black ooze. In the time it took to process that, the puddle blasted back up again, leaving behind a large horse-headed beast that could only be a Shadow. Dead white eyes glowered out at them from a wide-brimmed red dome of a hat, tiny decorations that might have been tails dangling down from it. The rest of the body was shrouded in a cloak that matched the hat, and beneath that was nothing but a desiccated green husk, sharp claws reaching out to threaten them, the left one a wicked-looking pincer.

"Death!", the jailer howled through a monstrous horse's maw.

The trio didn't miss a beat at this grotesque sight, calling up their Personas and readying their weapons. "He'll be tough", Aiko guessed. "So we'll be tougher! Come on, Onkot! Tarukaja!"

"Galahad!", Pelagio followed suit, charging forward across the cramped area with his sword and shield even as his Persona's power was invoked. "Shield us from his dark grasp! Praesi!"

Mira and Oya took the more direct approach, simply zapping the horse-headed enemy with a crackling bolt of electrical power they had learned was called 'Zio'. The bolt lit up the creature's equine skeleton for a moment, but didn't seem to hinder its own movements much, lashing out at her with a claw that left coal-black trails behind it.

"Get shields set up up on Dancer too!", Aiko commanded, momentarily irritated by Pelagio's always prioritizing her safety over anyone else before refocusing on her target and pointing her cutlass. "Aqua!"

As she had guessed, the first shield had been addressed to her, blocking the enemy's revoltingly fast claw attack before cracking. Far from stymied, the Shadow raised a second claw, whinnying as he invoked his own magical offensive. "Anyone who gets in his way's gotta die! EIHA!"

A pillar of dark energy engulfed Guardian, but even as he stumbled over from the magnitude of the hit, his own blue nuclear light flared out to blast the enemy back into a shelf. Aiko prepared to leap across the table to cut into him, but hesitated when she found herself suddenly feeling lighter than before, like she'd suddenly lost 50 pounds and none of the muscle.

"It's my power- Sukukaja!", Mira enlightened her. "Hurry up and nail him!"

She did. The enemy's hide felt far thicker than any horse had the right to be- like tearing into a frozen steak with a kitchen knife- but with the enhancements they had prepared, the blade still left visible cuts behind. More used to the sensation now, Aiko didn't flinch when she felt a third magical aura covering her, bolstering her even further.

"Rakukaja", Pelagio provided as he shook off the pain from earlier, gratefully accepting Aiko's healing magic in return. "The barrier that will not bend inevitably breaks, but one that accepts a portion of the pain shall endure longer. Perhaps this shall be of more use than Praesi?"

"Both would be good", she commanded almost cheerfully. Having loyal comrades like this watching her back made fights to the death against Shadows enjoyable in a strange kind of way. Or maybe I really am crazy. "But the pain won't end until we take this jerk down! Arise, Lilim! Burn him to ash!"

Her first fused Persona was demon girl in a white leotard that drew a few odd eyes, but it didn't matter when the enemy Shadow's cloak suddenly lit up with ravenous fire. That seemed to have the most effect- the creature released a keening howl of wordless agony even if the burning dissipated shortly instead of spreading like a true flame would have. "Enough dallyin'!", the freak screamed once he could speak again. "Time for a hangin'! MUDO!"

The black curse energy surged again, this time taking on the discernible shape of a large, misshapen skull for moment before charging directly at her with open jaws. Taken off guard, she could actually see out of the back of it before the jagged spikes that served it as teeth began to close together... and then she was sprawled on the other side of the room, struggling back to her feet as she saw the skull devour the steel-plated form of Pelagio.

When the skull faded, Guardian was left behind. He stood motionless for seconds, his round eyes even wider than normal before they shut tight and he collapsed to the floorboards without a word.

"NO!", the scream flew unbidden from her throat, unable to take her eyes away from the sight. Only the sound of Mira's own pain brought her out of it, turning to see the horse-headed bastard who had done this to Pelagio unleashing his claws on another comrade, this time without Pelagio's barriers to soften the blows.

Fortunately for her, the jailer had also developed a case of tunnel vision. So focused on finishing Dancer off no matter how much she dodged around, he didn't see when Aiko spun around with murder in her eyes, refocusing her Lilim Persona and pointing her sword.

"BURN!"

Flames gouted from cracks in the floorboards, not igniting them but blasting into her target with renewed ferocity. She raised a gloved hand and repeated the spell over and over and over, even when it reached the point that each word was making her headache worse by an order of magnitude. She didn't care. All that mattered was that this Shadow died.

No longer able to hear the creature's pitiful whinnying, she marched up to it and thrust the cutlass deep into the husked green chest beneath the red cowl before wrenching it free. Only later would her mind register that Mira had been contributing her speed-boosting magic to her moves.

Regardless, it was enough. Engulfed from the chest up in enchanted flame and bleeding raw darkness from multiple holes left by swords and daggers, the jailer finally keeled over and melted back into a pool of shapeless ooze. A moment later, even that had evaporated like water, leaving only a sound carrying on the breeze.

"Gotta lock folks up, gotta lock everybody up... so that he can be free..."

Only when she was certain nothing else remained of the jailer did Aiko allow the strain of what she'd done to catch up with her nearly driving her to her knees before she could get over to Pelagio and examine his fallen form. "You're okay", she whispered. "You're okay. You have to be okay. Tell me you're okay....!"

There was no verbal response. Rather, she felt it in his chest plating when she put her hand over it. A faint pulse. "Alive", she squeaked out a lifetime's worth of relief. "Just unconscious. We''ll have to carry him back to the water."

Mira still looked stunned by what she had seen her friend become just now, but she recovered quickly and nodded. "...Got it. Good thing it's not too far. What if they spot us on the way there?"

"Then zap them, and keep going."

Throwing Pelagio into the waters of Faraway Lands might have been a risky ploy, but it was all the two of them could manage after carrying his heavy body all the way back to the shore. They shared a moment of mutual apprehension, worry staining their eyes before his ship form popped back up onto the surface, evidently good as new.

Their ride home didn't speak until they were both on board, the voice issuing from every part of the ship a though he was a ghost, and nearly as weak as one.

"That... was rather embarrassing. Another failure, my lady. Please excuse my foolishness."

Aiko gave a disgusted snort. "Not even close. I didn't even know what that skull thing was. It would've gotten me if you hadn't pushed me out of the way... Thank you, Guardian."

"Mudo", he said pensively. "A powerful curse skill that drains the target's life force and induces automatic death, or a state near enough to it. Though it is not always effective, I could not risk allowing you to succumb to such a thing."

"Much as I hate to say it", Mira echoed wearily, "he made the right call, Ai-chan. Your power was the only one that was seriously hurting that Shadow. If he could use that skill more than once, we'd be doomed without you."

The mention of the last minute of the battle re-ignited her headache, and she leaned against the mast. "Go, Guardian. We've seen enough for today."

"Are you certain, my lady? We still have yet to find your friend. Only his Shadow."

"I'm certain", she knew. "None of us are in any condition to fight more strong Shadows after that... well, maybe Dancer is, but we should do this together."

Mira shook her head. "I was starting to feel it too. It's the smart move, especially because Pela-chan's still partly injured. The waves are still pretty crazy right now. We should still have some time before it's too late to save him."

Pushing away with both hands as they cast off, Aiko leaned back against the main mast, forcing herself to just breathe. "That's good, because I get the feeling we're going to need that time. Not just because of Mudo, but those guns too. We can't fight them. Not unless we..."

She wanted to believe she had trailed off due to exhaustion from using her Persona powers so recklessly, but she could also sense Mira's disapproval without looking at her face.

"Unless we get our own? No. We're not buying guns, Saber. Even if we found a store that would sell them to us, getting caught with a gun means expulsion at best. No way. I hate guns."

"Even if it's to save Julian-kun?"

It was a low blow, and one that she regretted it immediately.

"S-sorry. I know that there's limits to what we can do if we want to keep attending school while we do this. But... we owe it to Julian-kun to keep pushing against those limits as much as we can. Imagine... imagine if there was something that we could do to save him- something really hard to do- and we lost him because we said no?"

Far from being offended, Mira seemed merely thoughtful, staring out at the reflective waters all around them. "I know we need to do our best. We're the ones with the best chance- maybe the only chance- of saving him. If we have to go through the gate every day for the next two weeks, then we'll do that. But no guns. We won't do Julian-kun any good locked up in juvie hall for possession."

They both sat there quietly for a while, and Aiko felt like some of her strength had returned when Pelagio spoke up again. "Perhaps I might propose an alternative strategy, captain? Now that I have time to properly explain things."

Standing back up, Aiko nodded. "I'm listening."

"The reason that the bullets in that Land are so deadly", Pelagio began slowly, "is because the common human cognition states that one bullet is often enough to kill a person. That shared belief makes the guns there even deadlier than Mudo, since they are faster."

"I know", she agreed patiently. "It's a huge problem for us right now. I mean, I guess watching TV and movies might make people believe that guns aren't as deadly as they really are, but still-"

"However", Pelagio continued. "With this world being what it is, I believe that any object that passes for a gun would demonstrate the same capabilities. Even ones that do not function that way in your reality."

Aiko snapped her gloved fingers. "Models. You think that if we bring model guns in here, they'll work the same way as real guns do. And there's a couple of shops in the city that sell models for self defense."

"I believe that to be the case, my lady. Though I cannot be absolutely certain until we test this theory in person."

Mira was more skeptical however, leaning back against the port guard rail. "Okay, but even model guns are pretty expensive these days. Almost as much as real ones. I seem to recall a certain problem we had when we went out to cape Ashizuri to try and hold a victory party..."

"I know", Aiko nodded somberly. "I've been trying to save up the money I earn at Starlight diner, along with the money that we take from the Shadows here... but it's not going to be enough. Not for this."

Then a booming chuckle came to them from everywhere. "Then perhaps the time has come for me to redeem myself for my earlier failures."

Mira blinked. "Huh? You have a way for us to get model guns, Guardian?"

"Something like that", Pelagio offered, suddenly brimming with excitement after two incidents he regarded as 'failures' on his part. "I beg your patience for half an hour's time, captain. That should be long enough for us to get there. If you would kindly adjust my main sail to the west for a bit?"

Though he did not explain further, Aiko swore she could sense his anticipation, as though the entire ship was holding its breath for their arrival at their new destination. The trip was short and quiet, the three of them merely exchanging less important observations about all they had seen on their first visit to Julian's Land.

"Gentaro", she noted after the sail had been set correctly. "Or George, if you like. He was the one, wasn't he? The one who died. His grandpa."

"Yes", Mira nodded grimly as they watched the scattered islands sweep past. "I guess his grandfather must have been very close to him. Perhaps closer than his father was- you saw those wanted posters on the board at the jail, yes?"

"Vaguely", Aiko confessed. "We were kind of busy at the time trying not to die."

"I caught a glimpse when we were fetching back our weapons", Mira explained. "Those posters had pictures of Rosea-kun's father and mother, as well as coach Kurikado and another man I didn't recognize."

"Wanted posters", their captain repeated, glancing back at the pinprick of light that Julian's Land had been reduced to. "They said the Sheriff was hunting them. So, are they like your cognitions of Mattora and the SDC?"

Mira shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, like you said we didn't have time to look closer. I'm no expert on his cognition. Maybe he likes them, maybe he doesn't. All we really know is that Rosea-kun holds his grandfather on a different level than other people in his life. The only way to know for sure is to go back in."

"Back into 'Freedom City' and beyond", Aiko agreed. "Once we're ready, of course. Speaking of... land ho!"

The island Pelagio had set his course towards was far off the beneath path and easily the smallest one they had ever set foot on, merely an oval of dark sand with a small cluster of thin rock spires jutting thirty feet up out of the ground. The impact of landfall shook the deck, but Aiko was proud not to fall over from it as she had last time.

"Here we are. Both of you, kindly head below decks and take the first corridor to your left, then open the door there."

Doing as he said brought them to a double wooden door that Aiko was astounded she hadn't spotted before now- Pelagio was not that big, even in his ship mode. The locker beyond the doors was a cramped one, only having enough room for a simple wooden table and a pair of flat metal spades.

"Very good. If you dig at a spot near the shortest rock spire on the island, you should find it."

"Dig?" Aiko laughed at the idea. "You buried something here, Guardian?"

"Something, Saber", he acknowledged eagerly, transforming back into his armored form and taking a spade into his own talons. "Something which I believe will aid in our current dilemma."

"You're lucky we're not ordinary students", Mirambela remarked cheerfully as they set down at the shore. "They might object. If it's for Rosea-kun, though..."

A brisk thirty minutes of cooperative digging later, Aiko felt her shovel strike something harder than sand or rock. Pulling it up revealed a dirt-laden wooden box of classical make, lines of pricey-looking metal unmarred by years entombed flowing down into a round lock at the front.

But before any of them could make any observations, a sickeningly familiar dark fluid began to seep out of the key-shaped hole of the lock, and with it a low, guttural voice.

"No... no! It's mine! Mine! This is MY treasure! MIIIINE!"

"Shadow", their captain hissed as the ooze began to take form outside of the treasure chest. "Get ready!"

She didn't even wait for the puddle to finish before parting it down the middle with her cutlass. As usual it revealed a shape beneath, a bulky, disheveled shape that was nonetheless recognizable as a man. A tall man with long, dark red hair and glowing eyes, tattered green rags sticking to his form still recognizable as a tunic. A more traditional broadsword clutched in his left arm while the right arm hung at his side as a revolting cluster of maimed flesh and bone.

They also didn't wait for the Shadow to make the first move. Pelagio's opening swing glanced off the creature's own sword, but then Mira's Persona was calling down piercing lightning with her Persona's Zio skill, Aiko choosing her own Persona to strike with as well. "Freeze 'em up, Jack Frost!"

The ice spikes seemed to have a greater effect than Mira's power, piercing the enemy's dull skin in numerous places and doubling him over with pain. "Argh... no way! I am the mighty Lham Dearg! Tremble before me! Tera!"

The Shadow's eyes flashed ever so briefly and for a moment Aiko thought the attack had failed, but then loose bits of the island's rock spires came flying up to batter Mira, continuing to pelt her ever as she danced to avoid it until the gray shell of Pelagio's Praesi skill covered her, blocking the rest. The only one who seemed surprised by this development was Lham Dearg himself.

"What? How can you possibly-"

"Begone, abomination. Frei", Pelagio snarled over his words in a way that suggested he had the same amount of patience over having another unexpected fight after the Jailer as the rest of the team did. When that explosion knocked the undead knight back, Aiko's sword and Mira's daggers were there to finish the job. Unable to focus enough to call upon more rocks, the Shadow perished with nothing but some upset whimpering noises.

"Phew... Didn't want to recruit that one, Saber?", Mira asked once they were sure no others might trouble them.

"Not really", Aiko replied coldly, returning her focus to their prize. "That's not what we're here for right now. Besides, he seemed pretty weak compared to Jack Frost or Lilim. I want only the strongest Personas for when we go back to Julian-kun's Land."

At least the treasure chest didn't give them any further grief. It swung open at her touch, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Beneath a light dressing of cobwebs, the two girls could easily make out the shape of several dusty stacks of yen bills.

"Forty-five... no, closer to fifty thousand yen!", Mira whispered incredulously. She immediately brought the stacks out to count them, not quite fully believing they were real money yet. "I've never seen so much money in one place before! How?"

"That, Saber, is my treasure hoard", Pelagio announced humbly to them. "Remember that I spent many years in this dimension, travelling through it alone since before I can remember. During that time, a great many Shadows took offence to my presence and attempted to slay me, not unlike those loathsome seagulls back in your world. While some of those Shadows were far too strong for me to defeat alone and required me to retreat, many others fell to my blade even if I did not possess Galahad at that time. What you are seeing here is the total accumulation of their ill-gotten funds."

"That's a fortune!", Aiko gasped, just as astonished by their find as Dancer. "But... but we can't just take this from you! This is your money, Guardian!"

"Oh?" Pelagio's voice held a touch of wry amusement in it now. "Is it then? Then perhaps I should travel to the institution in your world called a 'bank', open an account, and invest it for safe keeping. Assuming, of course, that they accept signatures from birds. I suppose I shall have to learn to grip a pen within my beak then."

If anything, her eyes widened further. "And now Guardian is being sarcastic."

"This truly is a day for miracles", Mira agreed, still rifling through the pile.

"It is my contribution to the cause, to my friends", Pelagio clarified more openly with a bow. "Any monetary wealth that I possess is yours to use as you see fit, Saber. I know that you will use it responsibly."

"I will", she agreed automatically. Taking this pile and using it on an all-day shopping spree spanning the whole of Tosashimizu city made for an amusing mental image, but it was one she could never justify in reality. "I'll only use this money to buy things that will help us succeed in our missions here. I promise."

"That goes double for me", Mira said, finally settling down. "Actually, if we're serious about this, we should probably start a pool. Papa sends me some money every month to buy lunches and bus passes with, but there's always a bit left over. You should take it."

Unable to quite process all this good news at once, she put on hand to her temple and shook her head. "With that and my working pay, as well as the money we get off of Shadows, this should work out just fine." Releasing, she put on the first real smile she'd had since Julian has gone missing.

"Alright, then. It's settled. Let's go buy some guns."

"Model guns", Mira corrected her urgently.

Enemy Profile #3

Kumbhanda

Arcana : Hermit

Strength : Curse (Drain), Aqua

Weakness : Fire, Bless

Abilities : Eiha, Mudo, Draining Claw

Background:

A demon of Buddhist lore, said to drain human life energy with its left hand.
It has dark skin and stands three meters tall, but sometimes changes shape into a gourd. It is known to have once served Rudra, the god of storms.

Enemy Profile #4

Lham Dearg

Arcana : Chariot

Strength : Physical, Gun. Earth

Weakness : Ice

Abilities : Tera, Pulinpa

Background:

A warrior ghost from Scottish lore that appears around Glenmore in winter, challenging men to fights when he raises his blood-soaked right hand. It is thought that those who die in war while thirsting for battle become Lham Deargs.

A/N: It doesn't seem like anyone has a problem with the rather 'video game-y' boss profiles, so I'll continue them. The action's just starting here.