Emerald

by WhiteFangofWhoa

Six years after the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves, the sea of human consciousness grows wild, a tide of chaos threatening to swallow up the recovering world... But at the burgeoning academy of Koashimizu, a band of eight defiant souls seek redemption, and a home they can call their own. Rated for mature situations and violence.

48. Like A Dream Come True

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

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I'd Rather Be Out In The Summer Rain

Getting Soaked, Yet I Wouldn't Complain

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7/7 Tuesday

Morning

The sun was bright, and so was the sea.

Considering the recent weather trends, Aiko Tsuruga considered that alone to be a miracle worth celebrating.

Not that anything worse would have stopped them from trying, not after all the careful preparations of the last few weeks. The various improvised wooden frame booths she'd helped to build and carry lay sprawled along much of the coastline, each one of them covered with a different color of drape, adding flesh to the bones so to speak. Most of the booths sold snacks, usually of the marine variety, but others focused on chimes, pendants or other trinkets.

Naturally, they'd made arrangements early on for the fishermen- including her aged maritime mentor, captain Tongwa Byzael, to clear out beforehand, yet she could still see the Fiddler's Green parked at the outer edge of the gathering, no doubt because he wanted to visit in person.

He would be easy to spot in this milling crowd, which consisted mainly of students but also included a number of adults visiting from Tosashimizu city to see what had been created by Koashimizu, a school notoriously strapped for cash. Doing it outside was a long-standing tradition, taking advantage of the natural beauty of the coast less than five minutes' walk off campus, but they'd been rained out more than once, including last year. Not today.

From the cliff, she could see it all, and take in the kind of excitement she'd hoped to come by long ago, back when she'd first made the choice to go to school in the Kochi prefecture, about as far away from Tokyo as you could possibly get without actually leaving the country. Since coming here, she'd encountered many different people and experiences. Many had been worthwhile and pleasant. A smaller amount had been just the opposite.

Then there had been Faraway Lands, and the Shadows which dwelt there.

That was the other reason she'd been periodically heading up to the cliff, as often as her new student council duties would allow, on the watch for any sign of a gateway appearing on the beach. Logic said she was worried about nothing, as the gate had only appeared so far during the scant few minutes in the afternoon where the sun fell into the water, the rays hitting the sea creating an eerie light that guided those who wished for it the way into the vast dark sea of people's souls and dreams... but that place had never exactly been about logic.

It was more fun just to watch from there, and take in the entirety of what she'd helped to create over the last few weeks. Despite her initial fears, the council's new head, Kohru Tatsunoko, had been completely accepting of any new ideas their famous transfer student from Tokyo wanted to suggest, only criticizing out of concern for the logistics of making it work instead of any lingering grudges from when Benihime Kujou had been in charge. Certainly, it would have been impossible to cover everything they wanted to do with their limited funds. What impressed her all the more was the way that Tatsunoko and some of the others found ways to realize those plans while also cutting costs.

The shop on the waterfront with the huge lineup of women was a good example, renting out colorful Yukatas to any who wanted them for the festival. The original idea had been to simply purchase a decent number of them and rent them out, but that had changed into approaching the lone store in the Tenjincho mall which sold them, and convincing them to bring their own products out to a booth to be rented at a low price, with their main payoff being a badly-needed publicity increase. Just glad it wasn't that costume store with the shy cashier we had to talk to. They probably would've said no.

Naturally, she'd gotten one first thing. Tokyo always had shops selling them everywhere, yet she'd never been able to buy one of those for herself until now. The forest green fabric coat felt oddly thin along her body, but she was sure that the orange sash tied at her back was perfect after the amount of practice she'd put into learning it.

Many of the other booths focused instead on selling various brands of sea food, advertised as freshly caught no matter the real truth. It seemed like every third person in the crowd was carrying some kind of marine delicacy impaled on sticks as they walked and talked, which would surely stain a few of the yukatas, but the store manager didn't seem to mind it.

"Well look at you", a jaunty voice came up to her from behind the peak of the cliff, precluding the sight of a cinnamon brown-haired youth, his hands mercifully free of anything to twirl. "Free at last, eh?"

She smiled just as casually back at Jiachi. "You do know our detention ended like over a week ago, right?"

"Wasn't talking 'bout that", he chuckled merrily. "I swear, they kept you after class longer than Ishinagi did."

"Because I wanted to be there and help", she pointed out. "It's a lot of work, putting a festival like this one together, and I definitely didn't want to be the one slacking off these last few weeks. Tatsunoko-kun put a lot of faith in me, someone he hardly knew."

Something else crossed Jiachi's face then, a brief shade of irritation, but then it vanished just as fast as it had come. "Still, I bet you're glad to be done with it. Nice job."

"Very nice job", another arrival agreed happily. Mirambela Sorano had also rented a yukata from the booth, and in Aiko's opinion the garb fit her even better, possibly due to her greater experience with more form-fitting wear. "I'm glad that you didn't get rained out, Ai-chan. That's what happened to us last year, not that I would've been able to go anyway."

"I'd call it payback for all the rain we had to put up with getting here", she considered. "And maybe everything else too. You look great, by the way."

Mira smiled at the compliment, moving aside to make way for their next guest. "Save your praise for Vitienne-kun."

They both stared. Unlike Jiachi, who had stuck with a common summer T-shirt and soccer shorts, Noel Vitienne had dressed himself up in a regal dark blue dress outfit with a thick, high collar, cuff links and buttons. Combined with the way that he'd cleaned and brushed his golden hair back, it made him look more like a prince from some distant fantasy kingdom than a mere exchange student.

"Wow. I was kinda hoping you'd get a Yukata too, but... wow."

"Those things are way too small!", Reiha complained, bringing up the rear, wearing neither yukata or her student uniform. Instead, she had chosen the open black lace, skirt and coat that complimented her dark opera gloves as 'summer wear'. "Also, you only have two changing booths set up. It'd take me forever. I'd probably end up ripping the damn thing."

"...Sorry."

But there was no trace of a grudge here. Everyone seemed to be glad just to be there, enjoy the festival, and not having to fight any Shadows for a change. Mira surprised them all by bringing that up first: "So... you're really okay with letting Yumika slide for now? Shouldn't we at least pay her a visit?"

Hearing the mention of their principal's younger sister Cecille, who had apparently once been a member of the Masked Circle- a secretive band of human Persona-users wo had proven to be far more dangerous than any Shadow- Aiko took a moment to idly search the milling crowd for signs of blue hair and crystal earrings. No luck. "It should be fine. If they haven't attacked her yet, they might never, and they never showed any kind of hostility towards her. More importantly, they don't know that we know about her."

"She was always very clear that she wanted nothing more to do with them", Noel concurred softly. "She will likely be very upset with me for sharing her secret with all of you... but she will not be in any danger."

"Does the principal know?", Jiachi wondered aloud. "You think he's in on this too?"

"We'll have to ask her ourselves", Aiko noted. "But like I said, it'll wait. This is our vacation time. After all the crazy stuff we've gone through lately, I'd say we've more than earned it."

"Hell", Reiha snorted, "I barely even did anything, and I still feel like I've earned a long break."

"We do still have final exams coming up though", Mira reminded them all. "If anyone wants some help... well, anyone in my year."

"The captain is the only one here in your year", Julian pointed out. "I know it's kinda easy to forget sometimes."

"I told you not to call me that here", Aiko grumbled. "Only when we're in Faraway Lands."

"Heh. Try telling that to Pelagio." Brow furrowing, he began searching the clear skies for the friend in question. Hey... where is the angry bird, anyway?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Dunno. I've been trying to give him some time to himself, now that we're not quite as much trouble any more. He might look like a bird, but his mind is about as human as you can get."

"It took us a lot of work", Mira agreed beside her. "Convincing him you don't need a bodyguard today. That would look just a bit suspicious, with him always hovering around you while you tried to help with the festival."

"Oh, you should've seen him when we first met", Aiko jested, leaning back into the tall grass to relax. "He never left me alone. Always on my case when it was time for me to go to sleep. To be honest, it was driving me nuts. Of course, he'll be coming with us for the summer trip. It would be impossible to keep him out of that, even if we wanted to."

"Speaking of convincing people", Reiha piped up, "I talked with the doc. Several times, actually. He said that it's okay for me to go with you so long as we stay out of Shinjuku and someone always stays with me, aight?"

"What does he think this is", Julian snickered, "a buddy system for some kinda school field trip?"

"I'll stick with you, Hayato-san", Noel offered, earning a grateful smile back from her- one of her few genuine ones . "Anywhere you want to go. Oh, and Tsuruga, about the funds for the trip-"

"We're good", she insisted, having had this talk a few times already. "I checked with the hotel in Tokyo, I got estimates for everything else we'll need. Those Shadows were carrying a fair bit of cash of them, actually. I guess that kinda makes sense if they're supposed to be cops and robbers in a city."

"Is that real money, though?", Mira worried aloud. "What if it disappears?"

"It didn't when we took down the Land", Aiko reasoned. "Same for all the other Lands, and the caches we found on the smaller islands too. As near as I can tell, this money, this Yen... is exactly identical, and whoever we give it to can use it just fine. That makes it legal as far as anyone's concerned. Besides, I told you this is a one-time thing."

"Until the next time", Reiha suggested eagerly, grabbing Noel. "At the end of the year, we gotta have some kinda crazy awesome party to celebrate this guy's graduation!"

"A-and yours as well", Noel pointed out, taken aback by her energy as ever.

"Eh. Not really", letting go, she shrugged. "At least you have an idea about what you want to do, Mr. Manga Artist. Now that I'm out of the whole 'vigilante' thing, I'll need to make a new plan for the future... and I already know there's no way I can be a cop. Besides, I'm technically about three years older than you."

"Hayato-", Aiko stopped herself, remembering that she wasn't at all sure how well Reiha would respond to the mention of how Makoto Nijima had gotten into the police force in Tokyo- old hatreds faded slowly, even with all she'd experienced recently, dropping her irrational grudge against the Phantom Thieves.

Beyond that, she wasn't exactly sure what other career she might suggest for their friend. Certainly, Reiha's strange, almost spartan lifestyle up until now had given her the most well-muscled body of any girl on the campus; so much in fact that when they had first met, Aiko had first convinced herself that Reiha was a 'thug' for Benihime Kujou, called on to beat up people she didn't like. Thankfully, that assumption had quickly been proven false, but one fact that couldn't be denied was that Japanese society in general seemed to have little taste for muscular women like that.

That's not my problem, she mused. That's something that she has to decide for herself, what she wants to do with her life. All we can do now is support her going forward.

The rest of them would have some years ahead of them to study more subjects and decide what they wanted to do for their careers. Assuming of course we don't die in Faraway Lands or fighting the Masked Circle of course. Still... it's worth thinking about now. The teachers here sure don't make any secret of what they expect of us.

Mira seemed to sense her pensiveness, moving over beside her to watch the crowd milling about the various stands on the beach and spotting several familiar faces quickly. "Hey look, it's Rurichiyo-kun. I guess you saw a lot of him last week, huh?"

"Saw", Aiko allowed. "We didn't talk much. He's kind of hard to approach, especially in a detention class."

"I see that Samesaji's out and about", Julian chipped in before correcting himself: "The one we like. The one who didn't try to kill us earlier."

Their leader grimaced. Kotone Samesaji was definitely down there, her height and timidity even more pronounced around so many adults, seeming like only the act of holding Keto Rurichiyo's large hand was preventing her from disappearing into the crowd. Like him, she'd proven difficult to approach, mainly because any subject related to her older brother Ryuken or his work required a lie.

"Good for them", Noel appraised. "Festivals and holidays like this are the best places to meet new people, yes?"

"That is the goal for a number of people", Reiha smirked, tapping the rock as she stared down into the hundreds spread beneath the cliff. "Which begs the question of why our glorious leader's sitting up here with the bullrushes instead."

As always, Reiha had found the perfect thing to make her blush and withdraw. It was her greatest specialty, and Aiko took a moment to muster a response. "I just... Well... The truth is, I already have the friends that I want. They're all up here with me."

"For the first time in forever", Mira remarked, refusing to be deflected by the compliment. "Not that I'm someone to complain about someone else not reaching out to me. Still... I have to say, it's so strange that we haven't even talked about Faraway Lands for weeks now. I thought you'd be eager for us to go back again before exams start."

That earned a wince as well, from the other side. Certainly, she knew where Mira was coming from. Before their most recent rescue operation, the difference between her and Julian's desire to explore the other world and Mira's reluctance to join them had led to heated arguments more than once. While apparently Mira had now resigned herself to the fact that going into that cognitive dimension and risking their lives against Shadows was going to be a part of their lives for the foreseeable future, she now seemed confused by the sudden change in their leader's stance on it.

But Noel didn't look confused by the change at all. He gave Mira a somber look, clutching the small cross necklace around his neck as if for security. "Please try to remember what happened between then and now, Sorano-chan. Before we could save her, our poor dear captain was captured by the enemy. She was tortured. And we have seen for ourselves the ultimate goal of that torture, yes?"

Her round face drooping at the mention, Mira bowed in contrition. "...I-I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. I forgot what that awful Shadow lady did to you. Maybe... maybe I wanted to forget."

Pain was one thing, Aiko considered quietly, but seeing Mira sad was another, and she quickly reached out to stop that sadness taking hold. "Hey now. That was totally my fault for not listening to you, Sorano-chan. You're the one who kept warning us again and again about how dangerous that other world is, how if we slipped up just once in a fight, we could die. Well, we slipped up. We didn't die. I got lucky. We all did."

"Meh. Like we needed Mender at all", Jiachi scoffed. "We could've saved her ourselves, right?"

More amused than offended by his usual excessive bravado, Mira nodded back. "But then Samesaji showed up. The one we don't like. If Kurusu-kun hadn't been there to bail us out..."

Aiko spread her arms. "You've got it. That's why. That's why... I'm not exactly in a hurry to head back there, after what happened. Maybe I was once, but not any more." Thinking on it more, her gaze returned to the festival below.

She took a deep breath. "Actually... If we're being totally open and honest here? After what happened last time? I wouldn't even mind it if we never went back to that world. If we could just live out our lives here like normal. Just study, and learn, and enjoy this life while we can... but I already know that won't happen. We're not that lucky."

And that would mean everything Igor and Bartholomew told me about us being destined to stop the 'world regression' is false, right?

"Don't be cynical like that now", Jiachi continued. Even now, his own enthusiasm for their trips to Faraway Lands remained undiminished by the horrific sights and battles they'd been through. Whether he was faking or he was actually that brave- or foolish- she had to admit it was impressive and encouraging to see. "That's my job. What makes you so sure this is gonna happen again anyway? There can't be that many guys here with the kinda problems that we got, right?"

"No?", Noel asked him suddenly, piercingly, his current garb only accentuating his serious tone. "Are you sure about that? How much can you say that you know of others, Rosea-san? How many can you say have never imagined a dream world all their own, free of whatever problems plague them? How many can you say might desire that world more and more as their problems become worse, and they just so happen to hear the rumor about a way to escape it all, that appears only when the sun sinks into the sea?"

The expression on his face making his concession clear, Julian sighed in frustration and defeat. "Okay, okay. Fair point. Man, if I ever find out who started that damn rumor in the first place, I'll kick his ass so hard... rumor? Mo' like tumor."

"Eloquent as always, I see", Noel remarked before something else caught his eye. "Ah, there's Pelagio now."

It was the welcoming expressions blossoming on everyone's faces that actually made Aiko feel the most pride. The friend in question was a stern, silver-feathered falcon who had made his presence at Koashimizu academy felt on her very first day, but beyond the Phantom Thieves only the five of them knew that Pelagio actually thought and spoke as a human did. While his stuck-up and overprotective attitude had been quite aggravating for her at times, they now all considered him just as close a friend as any human... even if not all of them would ever admit to that.

No matter what he's like, it's hard to stay mad at someone who saves your life that many times.

"Hey there, grumpy bird", Julian called to their winged companion as he took roost on one of the taller rocks dotting the cliff side. "Been a while, yeah? How's things?"

"I am fine", the reply came so swiftly that it caught them off guard. "Yes. Yes. Fine. Everything is fine. Completely fine. Fine."

They all looked at each other for a long moment, none of them daring to wonder what had happened until Aiko spoke up. "Well, um, that's... good. Are you enjoying the festiv-"

"Yes, it's great. It's great. The festival is great you should be very proud. Proud of helping to make it, I love it."

Finding no sense in the diction of his words, Aiko studied Pelagio's stance instead. His eyes seemed narrowed and fierce-looking as ever, but also glassy and distant somehow, as though he badly wanted to continue flying, but instead that excess energy was keeping him standing ramrod straight, talons gripping the rock tightly.

"I too would like to know when we are heading back to Faraway Lands so we can find out what is causing all of this I swear I will protect all of you from Shadows as we fight to learn the tru-"

"Stop", she raised a hand in protest, frowning as it finally clicked. "...Oh. Oh. The mushi cakes. They were selling those at one of the snack stands, weren't they? And people kept on dropping little bits of them in the sand..."

"And he kept on eating them", Mira guessed, putting a hand to her face. "Baiba. No one would even notice him eating their scraps."

"The ultimate sugar rush", Julian laughed aloud. "Looks like our angry bird's got a bit of a sweet tooth goin'. Or 'sweet beak', anyway. Whatevs. He should be fine in a few hours."

"Maybe", Aiko shrugged. "Still, someone should probably get him some water. I've head that helps flush it out."

"W-w-what are you all talking about?!", Pelagio protested, his pupils becoming even more narrowed. "I feel great! I feel great! Great! Never felt better! Let's all go to Faraway Lands and hunt down some Shadows and steal their treasure and scout new La-"

"Not today, Guardian", Mira cut him off with a finger. "Come with me. I'll do it."

"I hope he's okay", Reiha said once they were gone. "Ever seen him like that before?"

"Never", Aiko admitted. "He's usually the calmest one. Unless someone threatens me, that is."

"And...", the older girl frowned. "And you really have no idea what exactly he is? He just showed up out of nowhere to help you?"

Aiko nodded back. "Yep. Pelagio saved my life, when I ran into the gate for the first time. He doesn't have any idea where he came from. All he remembers is traveling that other world alone, only knowing that he had to find me."

"Missing memories", Noel lamented sympathetically. "But still, that means that we have no idea what he really is either. Could he possibly be a demon? A Shadow?"

She smiled back. The idea had actually occurred to her before, and been dismissed just as easily. "Even if he is, he's chosen to help us. If he wanted us dead, he could have tried it a dozen times earlier and prolly succeeded. I've met a bunch of other Shadows who were willing to give us stuff or money, or even become a new mask for me. They're not all evil monsters, Vitienne."

Then Noel surprised her by looking unwilling to accept her theory, a hardened gaze looking out of place on his smooth face. "Still, we should be wary. Pelagio isn't a human. We have no idea what his goal is, or if he might he tricking us. If he really is a demon, then we can't trust him."

"I trust him-", she shot back, about to go further when she saw a frantic hand sign from Jiachi and stopped, annoyed. "...We can talk about that later."

Noel understood immediately, seeing the distinctive shape of the thin, short boy who had once been his only friend approaching them, a messy bush of black hair adorning a pale scalp, an outfit nearly as dark and formal as his own covering him, complete with a gray tie and cufflinks. "...Niyoga-san."

"Vitienne-san", he replied just as coolly before turning to Aiko, who tilted her head defensively before remembering too that she wasn't wearing the captain's hat from Faraway Lands. Almost wish I was. That thing is great. Maybe I could buy one like it from Tenjincho?

She still found it amazing to think that Shukiji Niyoga, a third year student, had actually been the very first person she'd had a real conversation with she she'd arrived at Koashimizu academy. Back then, he had shown her around the place, explained a lot of the disappointments she'd been feeling about the campus, advised her on how things worked at Koashimizu during a time when she'd desperately wanted to make a friend, even him.

Yet, it hadn't taken very long for her to realize that Shu wasn't the type of boy who stuck to the normal ideas of what constituted friendship. Though he was a definite genius when it came to his studies and discerning facts about other people by merely watching their habits, he had no desire at all to have normal friends, only people that he didn't hate for the flaws that he called their 'stupidity'. Gradually over the last three months, Aiko seemed to have jumped the barrier between those two classifications and joined the second one.

The obvious explanation of it was that sensitivity and reactions about his stunted height compared to the people around him, possibly even being the shortest student on the campus at just over four feet, had led him to be abrasive to anyone he encountered... but she'd seen enough to know the dangers of such an assumption. Beyond that, Shukiji remained an illegible cipher, never understood by others and never desiring to be.

"You did well, Tsuruga-san", his compliment surprised her. "I've never seen a school Tanabata festival quite this crowded with adults coming down from the city, and that's even with the bad PR of the disappearances at the school."

"Thanks", she managed flatly, not quite getting where he was going with this, but raising an arm anyway to warn Jiachi off, who already looked about to demand that he leave. "But I didn't do it alone. Tatsunoko-kun did most of the work, and everyone else in the SDC helped out too."

"Yes", he acknowledged distantly. "Tatsunoko is very good at grunt work." Smiling lightly, he turned back to her, his stare more intense than ever. "Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, even you surely must know why I'm here."

She rolled her eyes and felt Reiha doing the same near her. Of course we do. Shukiji had been sneaking around them for the last few weeks, desperately trying to find any hint of their secret 'after-school activities'. After realizing that, they'd quickly developed hand signs and code words to tip each other off that he was following them, and with these simple precautions they'd managed to avoid giving him anything he might be able to use. One more reason that I've been reluctant to go back in.

"Alright. The truth, Tsuruga", he demanded, dropping all pretense. "There's nothing in this world that should be hidden from me. You're involved in something else, aren't you? Something more than Mr. Umaeda's fencing club or the student council. Something more than that old fisherman on the beach you keep visiting, or that restaurant in the city you're part-timing at. Something very special that you've kept a secret from everyone except for your close friends."

Thankfully, Noel took over the duty of the first response, clearly feeling a bit guilty for all the inconvenience his old friend had caused them lately. "I am sorry, Niyoga-san. But our answer remains the same as it was last time. It's too dangerous."

"Too dangerous?", he bristled, refusing to back down. "Too dangerous for me to know, yet not too dangerous for you? Perhaps I should let principal Yumika know that you're involved in something 'dangerous'. Purely out of concern for your well-being, of course."

"Dude, enough", Julian could take no more. "All you gotta know is that it helped to save people's lives. And the only reason we're not telling you is because we don't want the same thing to happen to-"

Aiko surprised them all then, raising an arm to cut them off. "Alright. If you're really going to blab anyway, then I guess we have no choice. We'll tell you."

Even Shukiji seemed shocked by this abrupt change of stance, but Aiko faced her shrug towards her team instead. "He's smart. He'll find out eventually no matter what we do. If he's really the smartest student in Koashimizu, then it should be fine. He'll know to stay away from it."

"Explaining all this stuff to him could take a while", Reiha warned her. "Someone else might see."

"We'll go to the shack", Shukiji offered. "That's the best place for people to talk privately."

As expected, the half-completed building standing aside Koashimizu's incomplete pool was deserted now. After a regular class day they might not have been so fortunate, but no one wanted to hang out in this dingy place while the Tanabata festival was still on.

"I only have about twenty minutes before I have to take over duty at the changing booth", she reminded him briskly. "So I hope you don't mind if we abbreviate some of this."

"Say what you need to say", he encouraged them, claiming a seat up on the bench lining the longest wall and folding his knees inward beneath his arms, making him look a bit like a morose statue. "I'm in no hurry."

Without Mirambela there, it seemed only natural that she start the tale off, giving him the full details of what had happened back when Mira had first found her essays and assignments had been mysteriously deleted off the school's network, managing to steer clear of any niggling suspicions that Shukiji himself might have had something to do with it. That, combined with Mrs. Mattora's usual condescension and the student's taunts and jeers, had been the final straw for her roommate, driving her out of the library and out to the beach on one cold, breezy April afternoon.

Then, there had been the gate of emerald green light that seemed to only amplify the riotous winds, the one that only opened when the sun met the sea. Within that gate lay a world that had been given multiple descriptors by all of them, but most tellingly here had been the name Bartholomew had given her- the 'sea of souls'. Within that roiling dark ocean, dream worlds took shape for anyone who became desperate enough to flee reality through the gate, and the nightmarish beings known as Shadows stood guard over those worlds, to ensure that they would never leave.

Jiachi took over for her then, steadily going into the further details of how they had all found their Personas in different ways in that world, usually after coming to terms with the wild feelings driving their own Shadow, the same which had driven them through the gate to begin with. In fact, those very Shadows had been transformed into the Personas, becoming powerful avatars of their positive emotions instead of their hidden bitterness, summoned by the masks and trinkets they wore in that world.

Noel finished up, explaining how by becoming a crew and sailing that dangerous sea, they had managed to save everyone who this fate had befallen with the exception of their friend, the young Ayano Furusato. It was here when Shukiji's patience was lost.

He didn't start out particularly imposing, simply standing up while Noel was still talking about it, regarding him with a glare from beneath his messy hair dark enough to temporarily mute the others as well. Whatever the rest of him lacked in intimidation factor his eyes made up for.

"...Alright. I've heard enough of this."

Seemingly offended the most by Noel, he quickly refocused his ire on Aiko's shocked face. "How exactly you believed that I would fall for such a ridiculous fantasy story is completely beyond me. It's clear that you have no intention of telling me the truth. Instead, you saw fit to waste all of our time."

"It is the truth,", she maintained, not backing down from his accusing fury. "We just told you everything that happened in the last three months, everything that we've hidden. It's not our fault if you don't believe it."

His harsh laugh seemed composed of equal parts anger and sadness, a combination that gave the others, even Reiha, pause, simply because they'd never heard such emotion from Koashimizu's resident genius student before. "Wow. Just wow. You people really are... a pack of imbeciles. That's what you all are. And you're the biggest imbecile of them all."

On a taller, more athletic male body such rage would have been seriously threatening, but in this case all he could do was storm past Jiachi out of the shack. Aiko called after him before stopping, seeing Noel actually running past her and out the shack door.

---

7/7 Tuesday

Afternoon

Noel studied the grain of Shukiji's dorm room door like it was some kind of puzzle waiting to be cracked. Despite lacking any obvious sign that he was in there, he kept on knocking until the annoyed response reached him from beyond it: "What?"

"It's me, Niyoga-kun. Your friend."

"Friends do not lie to me, Vitienne. You of all people should know the importance I place on finding out the truth. The truth. Not some ridiculous rumor."

"Yes", he nodded, knowing that there would be no way to open the door if it was locked, and the effort would tip Shukiji off. "In that, we are very much alike. And I swear to you, Niyoga-kun, every word we told you was the truth!"

A long silence from the other side of the door, then: "It was Shigetsu, wasn't it? That old fool's the one who dragged you into his insane fantasy world. He has you believing in things like demons and spirits. Perhaps he did the same for Tsuruga and the others as well? That story, I could certainly believe."

Fighting to express his own frustration, Noel leaned heavily against the door. "Father Shigetsu... misses you, mein freunde. More than you know. Right now, he needs all the support he can get."

"Then he should stop lying to himself, and to everyone else. As should you."

"I don't believe he's lying either. He's never lied to me, never exploited anyone."

The reply came back slowly and ponderously, trying to make his old friend understand just how stupid the priest's earlier story sounded. "So. You still seriously believe that six years ago, angels and monsters actually came down from the heavens to attack humanity, and one of them bit his leg off."

"...Yes, Niyoga. Yes, I do. How else could Shigetsu have lost his leg? Do you actually believe he would have willingly injured himself that way?"

"Why not?", Shu scoffed from jut inside the door. "It got him a nice welfare check for the first year, didn't it? He never thought that maybe they might not swallow his lies forever, and cut him off from it until he provided better proof."

Stepping back, Noel folded his arms. "And what exactly have you seen to make you believe he would resort to such a cowardly method as fraud, Niyoga-kun?"

The voice behind the door only grew colder and more accusing. "Not only what I have seen, but what he is, Vitienne. He is, first and foremost, a priest. He makes his living selling ridiculous fantastical stories about the afterlife to people, hoping to bilk them out of their money to 'save their souls'. Something like that sounds like merely an extension of his craft to me."

Feeling his breathing heighten, Noel stopped himself, refusing to be baited so easily. Time and reflection had shown him exactly how the relationship between those two had crumbled. This could be the very last chance to remake the bond that once existed between us. I must tread carefully.

"You know... Tsuruga-chan once told me that you expressed boredom with the mundane world. That you welcomed unusual things in the world."

"Yes. Because you see, Tsuruga-chan is so stupid that she is incapable of picking up on sarcasm."

He breathed out, clutching his cross. "Mein freunde. Tsuruga-chan is many things, but she is not a stupid person. None of them are. Well... perhaps Rosea-kun, on his bad days."

He felt the door open before he heard it, looking up when he sensed the change in air pressure. Shukiji wasn't at the door, merely beyond it. Inside, the dorm room was nearly spotless, hundreds of books neatly organized into a well-polished oak shelf running along the desk, both of the beds with their sheets well made, looking like they hadn't even been slept in. Apparently, Shukiji's current third-year roommate was just as much of a neat freak as he was, and nearly as academically proficient from what he'd heard. Everything else looked clean and tidy, though the far desk had some clutter built up.

Far more encouraging was the expression on Shu's round, almost babyish face, cleared up most of his rage from earlier and replaced with what he could only place as genuine wonderment as he allowed Noel into the room, merely sitting on his bed waiting for him to enter.

"That's... hah. Haha... That's why I liked you, Vitienne. I swear, you must have the kindest heart in this entire country, or in yours. You can barely even say anything bad about that complete imbecile Rosea. Centuries ago, someone like you would have been ripped apart and tossed into some drooling mongoloid's soup cauldron by now. But your simple purity... that's rarer than diamonds, in these days. Such a pity that it's nowhere near as valuable."

Brightening, Noel smiled back in triumph. Did it. Suddenly, it felt like Ayano had never left them, that they were back in middle school together, a trio of outcasts against the world, united by their status. While Ayano had never made a secret which of the two of them she preferred romantically, Shukiji never took offense to her choice either. If anything, recent events had proven that having her around had made him less harsh, and easier to get along with. More human. Her death has affected him just as much as it injured me. He just isn't willing to admit it.

"Thank you for that. And I always liked you too, Niyoga-kun. Back when we met, you always sought out the truth among lies and rumors. You were the only one who didn't reject me for being a foreign exchange student. Well... the only one beside Furusato-san."

"For being a 'gaijin'", Shukiji sniffed thoughtfully, no doubt reminiscing the same way he was. "You know, less than ten years ago, there was no cultural insult at all in that term. Certainly, the original phrase was 'foreign devil' when it was first coined many centuries ago, but as our nation slowly became more accepting of outsider ideas and concepts, there was no negative meaning left in it. It was merely a descriptor, a statement of fact. Pity that JCAP's now turned it back into an insult."

Noel shrugged casually. "They are free to call me whatever they want. Like I said, I know who my true friends are. I know who is deserving of my respect."

"Do you?"

The loomed challenge in his reply made it clear that their seeming reconciliation had only been a lapse on Shukiji's part. The real obstacle in their path, an unwavering devotion to logic above all other considerations, still remained. "Yet, you now expect me to believe these ridiculous stories that Tsuruga and those others are peddling."

"When you subtract the impossible", he quoted back hopefully, "then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

"And that is what I am doing", Shukiji's face hardened, his throat tightening. "I am subtracting the impossible. I honestly don't know if it's Shigetsu or Tsuruga who got you hooked on these pathetic lies about another world, but so long as you keep believing them, blocking the real truth from me... I don't know if we can continue on like that, Vititenne-san. I really don't."

"It is not a lie", Noel maintained, which only made him angrier. No matter how badly he wanted to try and compromise, lying to make someone like you was an act Shukiji himself had always frowned on. "If only you could come and see it for yourself... if only we could show you! Perhaps I could try to arrange something with Tsuruga-chan..."

Now fully back to the abrasive posture he'd conveyed at the start of their chat, Shukiji sighed. "You see, that's the problem. Vitienne... Please. Hear me. I've seen Tsuruga's exam scores for myself. I've seen her body language. Whatever you think you see in her... She's just like all the other girls her age in this country- a prisoner of her own biology. She's nothing but a brainless, boy-crazed mall rat. Surely, even you've realized by now that she only hooked up with you because you're attractive?"

He felt something twitch, his hands tighten up. "What? What did you say?"

"But now she's on the student council, isn't she? With Tatsunoko, someone even more attractive than you, and someone with more authority than some aspiring 'manga artist'. So I suspect that she'll abandon you soon enough, to attach herself to him. Will you still believe her stories then, Vitienne?"

For the first time, his insults cut deep. Too deep. Knowing without needing to pry further that he'd lost the round, Noel sighed as well, his long arms dropping, unable to keep the sadness out of his expression as he moved away to close the door.

"You're wrong. You're wrong about her, mein freude. Completely wrong. I just hope that one day, you'll see that."

Frustration of this type was nothing new to him. It was child's play to prevent it from escaping in some shameful display as he closed the door and returned to the ground floor lobby exit.

Obviously he hadn't done quite as good a job concealing the feelings on his face though, because Reiha was on him in less than a minute, folding her arms and regarding him with one cocked eye. "Hey there Vitienne. It went that bad, huh?"

"Worse than I thought", he admitted. "I just wanted to try. If there was even the smallest chance that I might get through to him, and make him understand..."

Pulling him in closer, the tall girl chuckled. "His loss. For such a 'logical' guy, he sure can be stupid about some stuff."

"I wouldn't say that", he noted defensively as they walked. "He just doesn't get along well with most people. For a long time, Furusato and I were the only ones... and now..."

"Yeah, funny", she sniffed, "Funny how people take it personally when you constantly belittle them and claim you're smarter than them. Like I said, Niyoga only has himself to blame. If he really wants to be all alone without any friends, then you can't help him. Not even Mr. Ishinagi can, I think."

Noel grimaced at that reminder. In an ongoing effort to prevent further mysterious disappearances, principal Yumika had scheduled regular meetings with the school's guidance counselor for any students with prominent 'psychological problems' on their records. This included their leader, who had told him she actually didn't mind their sessions. Mr. Ishinagi was no mere amateur, but had actually been a fully-qualified psychologist before taking his current job at Koashimizu. Exactly why he had accepted such an inferior salary instead of working on his own remained a mystery.

But of course, the man wouldn't dare risk insulting their top student with that request. A student with such perfect grades must have a clean bill of mental health. The onyl time he'd ever been subjected to disciplinary action was when his hair had gotten long enough to be distracting, resulting in a demand that he cut it to a more reasonable length. From the look of it, Shu's hair was on its way back to that length, longer even than most of the female students simply because he lacked the care to cut it regularly.

"Perhaps I should talk to the principal", he mused. "Or to my homeroom teacher, Ms. Yusuhara. She's actually very accommodating with students she trusts."

"Maybe", Reiha allowed. "Just don't surprised when he gets mad at you. Guys like that think they don't need anyone."

"He's already mad at me", Noel admitted, lowering his head soberly. "Nothing I do now could make that any worse."

"There you go", she nodded in satisfaction before wrapping her strong gloved arms around him. "Enough of that for now though. Don't let that grouch get ya down. This is supposed to be a happy day, remember? A festival. Tanabata. So... let's go enjoy it together, yeah?"

Taking her offered hand, he smiled. "With pleasure."

---

"What is your goal?", Pelagio asked aloud, the question for once devoid of his usual affectations echoing in the cavern's raw stone walls, exposed and vulnerable as he must have been feeling.

As Mira predicted, water and time had helped to flush the sugar out of his system, mostly ending the hypertension in his body and voice from earlier, his previously frantic pulse going back to normal. Instead, he had merely become what she could only describe as 'loopy', and she'd brought him out to the beach cavern they'd chosen for use as a hideout as a precaution.

"Um... sorry?" The question had far too many answers for anyone to give just one with any confidence.

"Your goal", Pelagio repeated weakly. He didn't stand, as she had made it clear he had to rest still, but his eyes had refocused on hers. "Humans. Why do you exist? What do you seek?"

Well that narrows it down a lot, she thought sarcastically. Preparing the water dish for him bought her some time to construct an answer. "Can I ask you where this came from?"

Choking on the water but forcing enough of it down, he fluttered lightly. "In my world... if that is, in fact, my world... we fought to survive. I knew that I had to find the one I was chosen to protect. Beyond that, there was nothing. As far as I could tell, Shadows only existed to ply their misery on others, devouring them. Shadows devoured other Shadows and became stronger for it. When a strong Shadow appeared, the weaker ones always rallied around them, becoming the sentries of a Land. But... humans don't do that. What is their goal? What do they seek to do with their lives?"

She wasn't quite sure how to answer that either. Eventually, she shrugged as if giving up. "I... can't really say for anyone other than me. But I'll tell you, if you really want."

Pelagio remained respectfully silent, awaiting further details as though this weren't the first time he'd ever acted interested in her or any human other than Aiko.

"My Papa... my father", she considered slowly. "I come from a large family of brothers and sisters. I love them all, and papa always said I was the smartest of us. That's why he and everyone else saved up their money, so that I could go to a more advanced school abroad. That's why he was... upset... when my grades were so poor after my first year here. So poor that I would have to repeat the first year of school."

"That is another mystery", Pelagio remarked. "Why do you all do that? What is the purpose of this 'school'?"

She stared back at him, even more surprised that after three months he hadn't been able to grasp something so simple. I suppose where he comes from, there is no school. "We go to school so we can get jobs when we grow up. Most places won't hire anyone who hasn't at least graduated high school, and there was none in my home country that gave a 'licensed certificate'."

"Jobs? Hire?"

"Like the people working in the Tenjincho mall, or the police", she explained. "Once I graduate from here, I should be able to find a job in the city back home, just like my brothers did. That's my goal right now. To get an education. To make Papa proud of me. That's why I'll be studying for exams every day for this week, as often as I can."

"And all of the other humans are there for that?"

Mira giggled, surprising even herself. "Well, not all of them take it as seriously. But school is good for other things too. People get to meet other people. People figure out what they want to do with their lives, like Vitienne-kun wanting to be a manga artist. I guess you could say that it's so we can decide on what we want our goals to be."

He seemed stymied by that, blinking in the afternoon light. "And... is that Bartholomew person right? Do you feel that you owe a 'blood debt' to the captain?"

Strangely enough, this felt more comfortable to deal with, probably because she'd been wrestling with that question herself in the last few days.

"He could've phrased it better than that. But... yes. Ai-chan saved me, stopped me from making a horrible mistake when I felt like my life wasn't worth living. She did everything she could to help me, both in this world and the other one. She even risked her life when most other people would've given up. Even when I gave up."

Rising, she smiled sadly. "I owe her. No. More than that, I respect her. No one else has been to me what she is, not even my older sisters. Just hanging out with her is fun. And that-", she decreed more loudly, pointing to make absolutely sure that Pelagio understood, "-is the only reason why I keep coming along with her on these crazy adventures into Faraway Lands. To make sure she comes back. Because if she ever got lost out there, and I could've done something to stop it... I'd never forgive myself."

"Admirable", Pelagio decided after a beat, still lacking his usual pomp. "So you have no interest in the rest of what that strange one-eyed boy said?"

At last, she understood. It wasn't just recovering from the Mushi cakes; he'd been pondering this question ever since they'd spoken to the Velvet room's fresh-faced attendant. Though handsome as any other Koashimizu student, his stance and words suggested a far older, more mature consciousness behind his single shining yellow eye. No doubt his master would be just as imposing, by the sound of it.

"If what we're doing stops this 'world regression' from happening", she nodded back, "Then that's fine. But it's not worth her life. Not any of ours. We've barely even started to live, and now we're expected to do this weird long-nosed man's bidding while we're still dealing with school?! Why does it have to be us? Why couldn't he choose a team of adults more suited for this?"

Pelagio fell silent for a stretch, having no decisive answers for her. "I believe that the captain has struggled the same questions as well. I know that she cares for you as much as you do for her. If she ever felt that the arrangement was unfair, then she would have quit already."

"It is unfair", Mira maintained, successfully directing most of her anger into the walls of the cave instead of someone who certainly didn't deserve it. "But we couldn't just sit back and let other people disappear either, could we? Wazimu. We were the only ones who could help. If Bartholomew and his idiot master had just chosen someone else, anyone else..."

Once again showing an unbecoming hesitation to speak his mind, his beak clicked. "Yet, 'someone else' might not have cared enough to try. Most of the humans I have met so far are too focused on their own goals to bother with aiding others. Also, not all of them would possess Personas as you did."

If anything, she actually looked more offended by that reasoning. "Do you mean...? Are you saying that they were deliberately looking for people who didn't care much about losing their lives?!"

"Hmph. It's far too early for us to make that assumption", he halted her. "We don't yet know enough about their exact circumstances, or even where they come from. The captain trusts them. For now, that should be enough."

Blinking, she settled down, offering more water. Anger had made her temporarily forget who she was talking to... but that didn't necessarily mean he was wrong. "I'm so sorry. It's just... the last time really drove home how dangerous and cruel that world you come from really is. You're used to it, but us? You never experienced it. Hayato-senpai's Shadow never had the chance to drain you empty, and fill you back up with pain and rage."

Far from brushing her worries off as weakness, he softened his usual predator's glare. "No. But I saw its effects on the rest of you. And before that, we saw her intent towards our captain. Much the same thing, really. I have learned firsthand the dangers of being a slave to one's pain... but I also know that none of you have had to deal with it in such brutal fashion until now. Forgive me."

"It was horrible", her face had gone pale, numb at the memory even though compared to the others her time being controlled by the vampire Shadow had been brief. "Horrible. It was like I couldn't even think. I couldn't even remember who I was. All I knew was hurt, and that hurting someone else would make it hurt less. I... needed their pain."

"Yet we prevailed", Pelagio reminded her. "Just as we did against the previous Shadows, we prevailed in the end. I would never allow a filthy Shadow to harm our captain while I still breathed, and..."

Seeing his round feathered head drop, Mira cheered up. "It's okay. You can say it. No one else is here but me."

"I... That is to say... While you lack the strength of the captain and are prone to worrying overmuch about things... you have proven yourself stalwart in other ways, Mirambela Sorano. Only you could have transformed your Shadow into a Persona. The same goes for the Hayato girl and, loath as I am to admit it, the Rosea brat as well. All of you have now faced down the tortured, repressed aspects of yourselves, and emerged victorious."

"I guess so", she blinked. "Hold on... didn't you do the same?"

He looked even more abashed. "I was not required to confront my Shadow directly, no. Yet, until I first met the captain, I was limited to my sword and shield. Galahad only awakened in me when..." Momentarily by the mere recollection, he recollected himself and resumed. "When we were facing a powerful Shadow back in your Land, that technological forest... I came to realize for the first time then, that my life was meant for more than merely being a sworn protector of one person."

Her brown eyes twinkled above a widening grin. "And now you're interested in learning more about us humans, right?"

"I... suppose so. Yes. Whatever your faults, you're vastly more diverse and interesting than the Shadows I've become accustomed to. Mentally, if not physically."

"I'll take what compliments I can get", she joked. Certainly, it was true that the Shadows they'd encountered in the last three months had been a strangely intriguing gamut of creatures. Some had been voracious animals, while others seemed closer to demons, and many in Reiha's Land had been human forms in various stages of torture or death, such as the headless knights and the strange men strapped into floating electric chairs. If they hadn't usually been so hostile and deadly, she might have been more willing to return to their world, if only to catalog them all. It even put the natural wilderness of her home country to shame.

But at the same time, she knew what Pelagio had been talking about before. No matter what they looked like, most Shadows tended to gravitate towards the 'ruler' class of Shadow, which was formed from the angry hidden resentments of a human. A human like her. Or Julian or Reiha.

"Vitienne-senpai", she deduced. "What? You don't trust him?"

"He has proven his worth", Pelagio confessed more guardedly. "So far. Yet the fact remains that we only have his word to go by as to how he attained his Persona, Dellingr. Unlike the rest of you, we have never seen his Land, never known what feelings he has hidden away, or what world he desires for himself. I shall be watching him."

"I think you're wasting your time", Mira suggested mildly. "But if you really feel like you have to, fine. I'm sure he won't mind. Hayato might though. I really never thought that those two would get together, but here were are."

She could feel another rare emotion in his reply- confusion. "Together?"

Mira rolled her eyes. "Yes, together. Have you been paying any attention to them at all?" Sensing only further confusion, she sighed. "No, of course you haven't. Ever since she got back, Vitienne has been trying to get with her. I'm not sure if it's because he's just trying to make her feel welcome or if he genuinely likes her. I mean, I'm sure all of us pity Hayato to some degree, now that we know the truth. Not that she's one for self-pity either."

All this complexity seemed lost on Pelagio. Taking one last shot of the water, he shakily stood, regarding her gratefully. "I shall be watching him. Thank you very much for helping me to recover from that... mishap. I shall have to ensure I avoid eating too many of those in the future."

"Or anything with too much sugar in it", Mira reminded him. "You might have human intelligence, but your system is way smaller, so sugar that a human can take in without problems will affect you. Be careful."

"Yes", he nodded back. "It seems there's still much I need to learn about humans."

"The point is, you're trying to", Mira smiled. "You should have a sugar rush more often."

"...Hmph."

---

Little by little, the crowd thinned out into scattered handfuls of happy people before dissipating, until no one was left but the cleanup crew.

Both authorized, and non.

Kohru Tatsunoko had already arranged enough people from the council to manage it even with their limited staff, but he hadn't expected Jiachi to come and volunteer, eager as ever to show off in front of other people to the point where he once tried to carry too much, and ended up toppling over, support beams scattered all over the sand. Reiha and Noel joined shortly after, late enough that the sun was on its way down but still able to haul a few beams away before the job was finally complete.

"You have some good friends with you, Tsuruga-chan", the council's head remarked once they were done. "At least, I assume that's why they volunteered for this."

"Yes, and yes", Aiko joked back, trying not to let her embarrassment show. Reiha had drawn a lot of confused looks from the other council members, considering that she'd quit them mere weeks ago and was now acting to help clean up the site of the festival. It would have likely led to a confrontation if Noel hadn't been there beside her, acting like a living peace treaty, similar to the aura exuded by his Persona.

"I'm glad", Kohru nodded. "When the school year started, you seemed to be having some difficulties."

Carefully modulating her gaze back so as to remind him of how she'd gotten into this in the first place without wanting to be too accusing of him, she shrugged. "That's only natural. I've lived in Tokyo my whole life. Coming out here to try to start a new home... yeah, it took me some getting used to. But I think I've got it all worked out now."

Encouraged by her words, he surveyed the site once more, making sure as much trash had been removed from the stretch of sand as possible. "Does that mean you'll be accepting our offer, then?"

She chuckled lightly, trying to soften what she imagined might be a disappointment for him. "Sorry. I thought about it, really. I'm just too busy these days to add anything else on my plate. I've got the fencing club, and now we have exams coming up too."

"You could quit the fencing club", he offered neutrally. "You've accomplished what you wanted to with that, bringing Mr. Umaeda back."

For the first time, she realized that had to have been another reason why he'd been interested in recruiting her, no as merely a way to make penance for Kujou's behavior. Someone who within a month of arriving at an unfamiliar campus, had managed to revive a previously defunct extracurricular club with simple persuasion was someone worth having working for the school.

Which of course begged the question as to why she had never been able to do that in middle school or before. Lacking a more detailed explanation, she'd chalked it up to her Awakening. More precisely, to the spirit of Anne Bonny which now dwelt within her consciousness. That spirit had changed her life in so many ways, most of them positive, just as Oya had changed Mira, Galahad had for Pelagio, Wild Bill for Jiachi, and so on.

Of course there had been downsides as well. Mainly, Anne Bonny's temper being a part of her, sometimes leading to bursts of anger or other emotions that proved difficult for her to hold back. But the good far outweighed the bad. Without her Persona, Mira, Julian and Reiha would all be gone now. As good as dead. And so would I.

"I can't just abandon Mr. Umaeda", she explained. "I made a promise."

The disappointment on his face nearly made her relent, but then it was buried beneath the third-year's usual disciplined manner. That girl from the council- Chiyo, wasn't it?- had been right about that, she knew; with that crisp flat top of black hair and eyes of steel gray, Tatsunoko somehow managed to look like a soldier despite his older brother being the one in the military.

"Are you sure? From what I've seen, I thought that you wanted to change things around here."

Despite herself, she smiled at that. So you really do care about that stuff after all. "I do. I just did. But... Me being on the student council won't change that. There's already rules against harassment and bullying, aren't there? Some people just choose not to follow them."

"And the victims choose not to report it", he lamented, eyes down. Obviously, putting together his recordings from before had exposed him to more of the truth than he was completely comfortable with. "Likely because they knew it would do no good. I know that. I know... a lot of mistakes have been made. I only want for our students to be able to trust the council again. They seem to trust you."

"Some of them trust me", she corrected, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. To others, she would always be 'Aiko the Psycho'. "But they should trust you more than me. And I think if you start enforcing those rules, they will."

"Suggestion noted", he smirked. "You're a tough one to predict, Tsuruga."

Oh, you have no idea.

But she knew what he was really referring to. Working alongside Koashimizu's number one heartthrob had given her a few hints, gradually making it ever more clear that he actually didn't like it one bit. He didn't like the way girl students chased after him, how they would be willing to do just about anything to earn his favor, or even one smile.

He certainly didn't enjoy the gradual suspicion dawning on him over the last few weeks that Benihime Kujou had stayed as his girlfriend for more than just to gain his loyalty, but to make others jealous of her too. Having a female student willing to tell him 'no' was obviously a breath of fresh air for him.

"So are you", she echoed with equally respectful tones. "At first, I thought you wouldn't even care about what Kujou was doing, so long as there were no disruptions."

"Disruptions usually happen for a reason", he offered. Clearly, he'd heard similarly uninformed opinions before, from other people who had no desire to look any deeper than that. "A good authority should address the reason for a disruption, not the person."

That was enough to cement her growing sense that Tatsunoko was the real deal, that the council would be in good hands going forward. They didn't need her, and her being there would just cause him more unwanted problems with the others. Besides, I have enough responsibilities with being 'captain' of my team in the other world.

"This was fun", she waved, leaving the few remaining people there behind. Nearly every student had already returned to their dorms and the sun's light had nearly faded- without, she was pleased to note- creating a gate of any kind.

The dorm lobby felt quiet and unused despite the carpeting and signs of uneaten food; she didn't see any other students. Merely one person, a brown-haired figure who was now too tall to be a student, waiting there on one of the sofas without any sign of why.

Freezing up initially, Aiko sat up, not sure what to say. "Nijima-san... I see you're out of the hospital."

"I won't be able to stay long", Makoto explained stiffly arms folded over a black formal dress so different from her police uniform that Aiko hadn't recognized her at first. "The only reason I was here for so long was due to my injury being too dangerous for me to be moved to another hospital. After tonight though, I'll be heading back to Tokyo to resume my duties. I'm told that Kurusu-kun should recover in another week or so."

Cheered by the news but not enough to relax the earlier apprehension that had paralyzed her in dealings with the ex-Phantom Thief, Aiko nodded. "Did Ekuya-san give you any trouble getting in here?"

"Oh, that grouchy woman in the blouse?", Makoto considered. "No. Doubtless if I stay much longer she might accuse me of loitering, but it's not quite night yet. Actually, I've overheard an interesting story about that."

Feeling her legs drop through the floor, Aiko sighed, instantly knowing what she meant. "It wasn't his fault. We were rushing. We knew that the Shadow was going to target Kujou, and maybe even kill her."

Makoto nodded in understanding. "It's fine. I understand. We did far worse as Phantom Thieves. Breaking and entering, for one. I'm sure it's hardly the first time a male student has been caught sneaking in here, and for far less noble reasons. One reason I'm glad Shujin didn't have dorms."

"He's a good guy", she emphasized, surprising even herself at how much she wanted that to be completely true. "He's just kind of... y'know. He needs other people to tell him that he's cool."

Makoto lowered her eyelids sagely. "'We inevitably define ourselves by others, yet we cannot allow others to define us'. Brian Thompson."

"I'm sorry", Aiko cut in with a frantic bow, unable to hold it in any longer. "I'm so, so sorry. I messed up. I should've listened to you before. And now, because of my mistake, the Masked Circle is after us. They almost killed us."

"Kurusu told me about it", Makoto considered. "He said one of them ambushed you in Faraway Lands."

"When we were already worn out from fighting Shadows", she admitted. "And even if we'd been at full power, that guy, Samesaji... he was just too much for us. And he said that the other members are even stronger than him!"

This was a new experience, Makoto realized. Certainly, she'd been faced with the task of comforting scared young civilians during crises in Tokyo at times, but those were usually brief, easy gestures designed to calm them down, to try and reassure them that they would find or save their loved ones, whatever foul crime had befallen them. Regardless of whether or not she could do it with any kind of real confidence. She could already tell that it would take more than kind words and a pat on the head to heal this girl's worries.

"Kurusu-kun told me. Samesaji's Persona was very strong", she considered. "Probably because he's had it for so much longer than you kids have had yours. That was the case with us too, I recall. The more missions we went on, the stronger our Personas got, however... Did Kurusu ever tell you about Goro Akechi?"

"Akechi?" From the look of it, she knew the celebrity 'detective prince' identity, but nothing about the secret life that he'd hidden from the world. It couldn't be an accident that Akira had been reluctant to cover that story with her. It still hit too close to home.

"Akechi had been using his Persona for years before we got ours", Makoto explained. Even now, the subject filled her with a strange mixture of disgust and empathy for the man. "Using it to infiltrate Palaces in the Metaverse and kill people's Shadows, causing the outbreak of mental shutdowns around that time. As a result, when we finally confronted him, he was far more experienced and powerful than us. It took all of us working together as a team to bring him down."

"What? Akechi-kun was... a murderer?"

"A multiple murderer", she confirmed. "Unfortunately, not everyone with an awakened Persona is necessarily a good person. The point is, I'm sure if you all keep at it, and keep getting stronger, you should be able to defeat the Masked Circle eventually. You just need to be cautious until then."

Naturally, that wasn't the reassurance she'd been expecting, but then, the Nijima clan had never been much for offering comforting lies to people.

"In any case", she continued. "That's not the reason that I tried to stop you."

"No?"

Her gaze softened as she winced. "The reason was, I didn't think anyone should have to go through what we did as Phantom Thieves at our age. We risked our lives so many times. Looking back, we most likely came within inches of being arrested in the real world as well. We ran into mobsters who could have simply shot us dead in their club, and buried our bodies."

"But you still went on", Aiko prodded hopefully.

"Yes", Makoto agreed sadly. "Partly because of youthful arrogance, but mostly it was because the alternative was resigning ourselves to letting injustice thrive. We saw people suffering, and we saw the rotten-hearted people behind that suffering. Only we, the Phantom Thieves, could do something about it. How could we not act?"

"We won't be doing any of that for a while", Aiko noted. "We're going on a vacation after exams are done. We all need a break."

"It's important balance your time between this world and the other one", Makoto agreed vehemently. "Kurusu was an expert at that. He made sure to space out our trips into Palaces, so that we never got too exhausted. In that, I would say he was superior even to me. Thankfully, we also had the time to take regular vacations from it as well. But still, the risks..." She shook her head. "Responsible adults like us are supposed to face those kinds of risks, not high schoolers. We're supposed to be your shields. That's what I thought, anyway."

"And... have you changed your mind?"

The former Queen smiled. "I have. I certainly can't claim that what we did made Japan a perfectly safe model of prosperity and liberty. We were never meant to go that far. We simply eliminated one source of the world's distortion, but apparently others do exist as well." Leaning forward, she peered closer into Aiko's green eyes. "By the by, have you made any progress on that front?"

"I'm afraid not", the younger girl admitted. "All we know is that people go into Faraway Lands when they, erm... 'get low'?"

"When they feel despair", Makoto suggested after a moment's consideration on how to phrase it better. "Despair for the future?"

"Yeah. That. They start hearing a voice in their heads. It sounds like their voice, but it always leads them to the same place- the other side, through the gate."

The older woman's eyes slid shut, her mouth a sphinx's grin as she remembered her own encounters with the mysteries, wonders and, far too often, nightmares of Mementos.

"Yet the message is always the same. Abandon the current reality for a new one. That's not the first time I have heard that song sung."

Surprised, Aiko gaped. "Really?"

The former Queen blinked, shrugged. "Well. In the last few years, there was a growing trend of 'VR parlors' that were all the rage in Tokyo. We found that some juvenile-age citizens were becoming addicted, even stealing money from their parents so they could continue."

"This is a little bit different from that", Aiko laughed lightly. "It's-

The sound of the door silenced them both, more out of reflex than real danger; Mira had learned firsthand that even a full confession of the truth about the other world didn't necessarily mean someone would believe them. As we just saw with Shukiji too. 'The Veil' is strong.

The new arrival produced shocked hesitation in them both for another reason. Sensing the tension, Reiha Hayato chuckled. "What, do I have somethin' on my face?"

Without waiting for the other shoe to drop, Aiko rose, mouthing a silent apology to Makoto. "Nijima-san... This... This is Reiha Hayato, a member of the Dream Voyagers. Our team."

"Assuming a bit there, aren't ya?", she teased. "Nah, it's fine. You know I'm with you. I even picked out my code name already. Who's this, Tsuruga-chan?"

"This", she hesitated further, "is Makoto Nijima. Currently a cop, but... six years ago, she was a member of the Phantom Thieves."

As she held her breath in waiting for that revelation to settle in with the former Phantom Thieves-hater, Makoto was the first to step forward and break the ice, obviously unaware of much relating to their newest recruit.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hayato-san. I don't suppose that you'd be interested in answering some questions about Faraway Lands? I know it's been a long day for you all."

"Long day", Reiha agreed breathlessly, her eyes paling, obviously not sure how to respond at first. The way she was keeping her distance, refusing to accept Makoto's offered hand, quickly tipped the detective off that something else was going on.

"Is something wrong?"

Taking a deep breath, Aiko double checked to make sure no one else was listening- unlike Faraway Lands, this secret was volatile and dangerous in the wrong hands. "And... her surname used to be Kaneshiro."

Naturally, they both looked stricken, Makoto by the revelation itself, and Reiha by the fact that Aiko was willing to risk sharing it with anyone, even here. The sullen anger in her tone hurt, but not nearly as much as she'd feared. "...Tsuruga, I'm pretty sure the doc made it very clear to you that we're all dead if that gets around. Why?"

"B-be", she stammered, fighting not to break. She didn't fear violence from Reiha, but rather the possible damage to their friendship, just as jumping the gun nearly had with Mira months ago, when her clumsy efforts to help had only made things worse. "B-because... I trust Nijima-san. I trust that she knows how important that secret is to keep."

"And I do", Makoto managed once she'd recovered from her own shock. "Believe me, I do. I've heard the rumors in Tokyo about your past. If you are who Tsuruga says you are... then the Phantom Thieves owe you a substantial apology." Studying the pale face of their guest, she bowed deeply to her. "Please accept it. I'm deeply sorry. We only changed Kaneshiro's heart to stop his crimes. We had no desire to destroy your family, or make you a target."

In that moment, Aiko had no idea what her friend would do. For all she knew, Reiha might have even let her temper break and attacked Makoto then, ignoring every single reason that would be a bad idea in favor of her own vendetta... and Makoto would be forced to respond in kind with her own skills. She wasn't looking forward to explaining a full-on fist fight taking place in the lobby of her dorm.

Breaking out from her own freeze, Reiha made no movements towards the ex-Phantom Thief, instead seeming to be breathing something dark and heavy out through her lips and shaking her head, her eyes deathly focused. "That was... another lifetime ago. And I know why you did it. Hating you and the other Phantom Thieves just because of that... It's stupid. Childish. You're not the ones who abducted by mom. You're not the ones who forced me to flee my home. That was whatever kobun were sent to silence us. And whoever ordered that- prolly Enmikaeda."

Nearly as surprised by the girl's casual name drop of one of Tokyo's most fearsome current Yakuza heads, Makoto pulled up from her bow, red eyes wide. "I see that you've been keeping tabs on them regardless."

Reiha snorted. "Don't get the wrong idea, Nijima. I don't have any info that the police don't already have. Doesn't take much to know that Enmikaeda is the new star player in the Tokyo crime scene."

"That's still more than I would expect any high school student to know about them." Withdrawing to her seat, Makoto nodded. "Don't worry. I completely understand the need to keep this a secret. Perhaps one day, when Enmikaeda and those like him are brought to justice, it will be safe to reveal the truth. Sometimes, even Yakuza can forgive old grudges."

"Don't hold your breath for that", Reiha grunted, and they both knew the insult was justified. "Just watch what ya say, aight?"

She was hardly offended by Reiha's comparatively crude way of speaking. She'd heard it out of the mouths of countless others, though usually the speakers were young males. "Again, I'm very sorry that things turned out this way for you. The last six years' experience have taught me a great deal about just how deeply embedded the Yakuza are in our society... and how difficult it will be for anyone to remove their influence. I cannot promise that will be accomplished. Only that I- we- will continue to fight it."

"I'll hold ya to that", Reiha replied, finally accepting the other's offered hand in her glove.

Satisfied that they wouldn't be fighting after all, that whatever lingering resentment Reiha held for the Phantom Thieves wouldn't interfere with their talk, Makoto returned to her seat, turning back to Aiko. "As I was saying earlier, I owe you an apology as well. I just don't fully understand what caused all this. Things I don't understand tend to make me overly cautious."

"So in other words", Reiha snickered from her seat on the couch, "you're human. Great confession there, Nijima-san."

"I don't completely get what's going on either", Aiko confessed more amicably. "Both the people I would ask never speak straight, if they even know themselves. But I do know this; this isn't the Phantom Thieves' fight."

"Yeah", Reiha chuckled. "They would have just a little bit of trouble getting anywhere without a ship." Realizing how little they still knew about the details of the Thieves' operations, she raised an eyebrow at Makoto. "Do you have a ship?"

Makoto smiled, remembering countless hours spent driving a certain black van around. "No. If this other world is a 'sea of souls', then it's true that we would not be well qualified to traverse it. More importantly, gathering our old team back together again would be quite difficult in the current circumstances. We all have different responsibilities now. This is my last stop before I clear out my apartment and head back home tomorrow to resume work."

"Sure", Reiha snorted. "What's a few days off? Not like the fate of the world is at stake or anything."

Horrified by the implied insult, Aiko glared at her. "It would take far more than a few days for even the Phantom Thieves to find the source of this distortion. All we've been doing so far is going out to save people when they disappear."

"Reactionary", Makoto observed without accusation. "I assume that by your tone, you have a plan to change that status?"

"After our vacation", Aiko explained bashfully. "When we get back. Vitienne-kun has a point, now that I think about it. If we don't find out more about this, and figure out how to stop it... it'll never end."

She didn't bother to mention that Noel had proposed that objective more to satisfy his own burning curiosity, to determine exactly what the existence of Shadows and Personas based on mythologies really meant to people of faith like himself. A plan is a plan. Disappearances always take priority, but we've barely scratched the surface when it comes to exploring Faraway Lands. Somewhere out there, we have to find that beacon of light.

"It sounds like you have things in well hand then", Makoto acknowledged. "Forgive my fears, Tsuruga-chan. As an adult, I can't help but worry for the fates of children your age, particularly after seeing for myself the different ways that criminals can ruin their lives."l

"Or seeing how powerful JCAP's gotten?", Reiha suggested. "I'm curious, Nijima- have you ever been ordered not to stop the violence some of those people get up to?"

Refusing to bristle at the accusation, Makoto gazed back unflinchingly. "If I ever was, I would likely ignore such an order. Our directive is to serve and protect all the people of Japan. I've witnessed for myself what happens when the police become corrupted by politics, and I have no intention of becoming a part of such things."

"Right", Reiha remembered. "Shido. Looks like you've got your work cut out for you. Best of luck."

"Will Kurusu-kun be leaving soon as well?", Aiko prodded. "I wanted to talk to him at least one more time."

"He's still in the hospital", Makoto clarified, voice touched by her own concern for him. "Obviously, the doctors were puzzled by the nature of his injury, since an icicle of that size and thickness would be impossible to generate in the real world, especially in summer. But they've got it under control, stopped the bleeding. They say he should be good to go soon. I don't doubt he'll visit again after he's gotten a clean bill of health. He's quite fond of you, you know."

There was no need to explain why that was. They'd both been the leaders of their respective teams, and had to deal with the pressures that came with the role. Like Makoto had said again and again, life and death stakes wasn't something that society could really prepare teenagers for.

And yet Tatsunoko's older brother is in the army, being trained to shoot and kill people. How old was he again? 19? 21?

No, she willed the idea away. We're not Igor's soldiers. Or soldiers for his lost master. We're investigating this because we're the only ones who can, or will.

And not, most certainly not, for the thrill of being like the Phantom Thieves.

---

7/7 Tuesday

Night

"I was surprised", Bartholomew said with one hand against his chin, his usual dry tone making it clear just how rare an occurrence that was. "The Sorano girl was asking excellent questions. None of the Trickster's comrades were ever quite so thorough about the why and how of their journey."

Long arms and pale hands steepled in front of his seat, Igor released a throaty chuckle. "Perhaps that is because the Trickster had a much clearer objective. A clear enemy before him, that had cast him into imprisonment to face his ordeal."

The blue-clad attendant's single molten gold eye spasmed at the words, regarding his master with vexation. "You're mistaking him for someone else. I know that it was more than revenge on Masayoshi Shido which drove him on. With vengeance alone, he wouldn't have succeeded."

His master rose, his bemused grin never fading. "You are mistaken. I refer to the ideology of human hierarchy, which fueled the Usurper's power and allow him to lock me away, and impersonate me. The Trickster no doubt recognized that, and sought to combat it by any means necessary. How ironic that the Usurper would hand him the perfect tool for such a trial."

"The Usurper...", his face fell, the socket around his eyepatch contorting in shock. "Are you saying that the Trickster actually was chosen by the Usurper, and no one else?"

The inhumanly long nose twitched. "Truly, should that foreknowledge diminish the Trickster's accomplishments in the slightest? I have only spoken the truth to the Dream Voyager about this. I do not choose the players. Perhaps my old master does, but I have been unable to communicate with him for millenia, since his sacrifice. Regardless, it cannot be denied that whatever force- be it a consciousness or mere random chance- made these selections chose well, and even worked through a foolish Usurper who considered himself a God to safeguard humanity."

Finished cleaning the cages, Bartholomew scowled. Vagueness and mystery did not become him. It was always his nature to sail towards the unknown in the hopes of exploring it, and discovering something new. In that way, he was very much like the Dream Voyager.

"Her enemy is hardly hidden", he protested. "Even she can discern it. There are forces at work within this tempest that seek to rip humanity apart. She has already seen that within the minds of others."

But his master's ironic smile merely widened. "Yet, it is as I have said. Recognizing an enemy is hardly the same as being able to combat them effectively. That deduction, we must leave to the humans who still dare to harbor hope in their hearts, and guide them as best we can towards the light of change."

"One change in the world, or another", the attendant muttered. "But that hardly makes a difference to us, does it?"

Igor's forked brows rose as he gave a dark chuckle. "Such negligence on our part was partly responsible for the Usurper's near victory six years ago. To think that such a being would dare impersonate a shepherd of humanity in order to play out his unjust game... Most regrettably, Lavenza continues to blame herself for it all."

That remark finally got his focus back on his duties- maintaining their vessel during its travels across the stormy sea of souls. Usually, going up to the top deck was far too unsafe even for him, and so he'd installed a steering wheel one level down, flanked by windows. Lavenza... Though he'd only encountered his predecessor a few times, her unique character had made an impression on him all the same. While going chronologically would make Bartholomew the youngest Velvet room attendant, she retained the youngest physical appearance, and some human instincts were just too powerful to ignore completely.

When the Dream Voyager finally popped into the Velvet-limned hold, he was already making mental comparisons between the two, illogical as they might be. Both were extremely courageous specimens and their hair was of similar color, but that was about where the resemblances ended.

"You tricked me", he remarked when he saw her, not accusing, merely matter-of-fact about what she'd done. "You said you wanted me to visit you, but instead you had the Sorano girl and your guardian interrogate me."

"Interrogate?", Aiko rolled her eyes. "Psh. Dancer couldn't interrogate someone if she tried. She's way too nice. Maybe Pelagio could, but not in that form. I'm sure it was fine."

"You're fortunate", he suggested. "She seemed adamant about learning exactly what your journey ahead entails. I only regret that I wasn't able to provide her with more information."

"She is pretty thorough about stuff like that", she commiserated. "When I went to sleep, she was still studying away. She's gonna ace the exams again, I just know it."

"Be that as it may", he called out haughtily. "I'd appreciate if you would be honest about your requests for me going forward, Dream Voyager. I am not some mongrel pup to be summoned at your command."

Looking for a moment like she was about to protest that contrary claim, she let it drop. "Right. I'm sorry. That was just the only way I could be sure that you and her could get some time together. She asked me, and how could I say no? You've seen how she worries about stuff like this. Next time, it'll just be the two of us, I promise."

The way she parsed the last of that sentence made his own brow shoot up. "You desire more knowledge of the wild cards that have come before you? I had thought the Trickster would have covered enough of it to your liking."

"Nooo", she smiled back. After so many visits, she'd nearly forgotten that Bartholomew wasn't human, though he often seemed close enough to it. "I want more knowledge about you."

"Knowledge about me?", he repeated, slowly coming to his own conclusion. "How... novel. I had thought you had already pledged your heart to the Rosea boy."

"Not even close", she protested. "We both agreed that he was jumping the gun- no pun intended- and that we should both experiment with other people first."

"And so you choose to spend more time with me", the sandy-haired attendant smirked, surprised that he couldn't quite bring himself to make his face into a sneer of disparagement. "I should warn you- I am not so naive as the others of my kind. There are few things left in the human world that I have yet to witness for myself."

"I thought so", she winked back. "Otherwise you wouldn't be so cynical. But if you're not really up for that kind of thing right now, how about something else?"

"Something else? Erm, well I have arranged some new rituals for your Persona fusions..."

"No", she waved the offer away. "Actually, I won't be using them for a while, until we get back from our vacation. That's the point. I want to be able to stay in shape. And for that, I need a goalpost. That's what Gunslinger said, anyway. He likes his sports metaphors alright. Or at least soccer metaphors."

"So", he considered, for once intrigued by the unknown. "Just what are you proposing that we do?"

Checking to make sure her captain's uniform was there, she beamed at the confirmation. "Training. You're strong, right? You have to be, to be able to make all these Personas for me. I can't ask anyone else to travel with me through the gate- that's way too dangerous. But you, I can visit every night if I want to. So... how about it?"

Now he did sneer, more a reflexive action at her reckless daring than anything else. "You truly are bold, Dream Voyager, to suggest such a thing of me. But... I suppose you are correct. Such a thing could certainly serve as an educational experience for you. I just hope that you're used to facing defeat."

Delighted to see she'd been right, her voice sounded restrained and calm despite it. "It's better that I face it from someone who won't kill me than get beaten by Shadows because I didn't prepare for them. That's Dancer's biggest fear, really. That some day, we'll run into some Shadows who are too much for us, and they'll kill us, and no one will ever know what happened to us. Or that one of those psychos in the Masked Circle will come after us, with the same result."

"That's why you wear that new equipment", Bartholomew observed, appreciating the shiny new foil at her waist, as well as a tougher vest that seemed to be artificially stiffened by some chemical procedure.

"That's why we bought this new gear", she echoed irritably. "No matter how criminal the prices at the Bird of Hermes are, or how annoying it is to have to send Gunslinger in to do the buying for us. What gets me is that I'm pretty sure Walter knows what we're up to, yet he still doesn't let me buy stuff in person. Men only."

"Yet you overcome that obstacle, as you have the others in your path", the attendant reminded her. "Very well then. Follow me."

Briefly taking in Igor's own silent smirk, she frowned. "Follow you where?"

"To the upper decks, of course. It's far too cramped to spar in here, and I don't wish to damage the cages; I just cleaned them before you showed up, you know."

Taking the rickety wooden stairs up brought them to something else she'd never seen on a ship before- a massive collection of shelves, packed to bursting with books. "That was where I found the compendium, after much searching", he explained. "The rest are useless to us, but I've heard rumors of another, more powerful tome that was left behind by my predecessors. If I should find that one, I will inform you at once."

Past the shelves, another set of stairs brought them to wide-open gallery space, with both of the side walls lined with racks on racks of various types of ornate classical swords mounted on hooks, several of which Mr. Umaeda's club had taught her to recognize in passing. As with the rest of the ship, velvet blue remained the dominating color, but the breeze seemed to flow more easily in here despite a lack of windows. "What about the top deck?", she asked him.

"Too dangerous", he stood firm. "We're currently caught up in the storm of human consciousness, which you have only seen the more tame portions of so far. Fighting out there, exposed, would likely lead to our deaths- more likely yours than mine. You would be plunged into a coma, never again to wake."

"Okay okay, message received", Aiko rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Geez."

"On a similar tack", he continued more sternly, "while I will of course avoid delivering any mortal blows, I also expect you to give your best possible performance. As I said, my time is valuable. Sparring with such a weak opponent is hardly a productive use of my time if nothing is learned by it."

"Don't hold back at all, do you", she sighed dramatically. "I'm pretty sure all the Shadows we've taken down would agree that I'm not weak. None of my teammates are."

"Because those Shadows are weaker still", he replied, stern and unyielding as he marched past her to the middle of the room. "As you may have noticed, Voyager, Faraway Lands has a vast scale of strength when it comes to Shadows. The Shadows in the first Land you visited- the one belonging to the Sorano girl- are inferior to those you encountered in the third Land, the dark city created from the pain-stricken mind of the Kaneshiro girl. Likewise, the closer you come to the center of this world's distortion, the stronger the enemy."

Hearing Reiha's true name made Aiko blink. "Wait, why are you using their real names? Aren't we supposed to use code names in this world?"

"Worry not", he smiled back, happy that she'd spotted the discrepancy. "On this ship, we are protected from prying minds, and thus Leviathan Shadows cannot track us while we remain inside. Neither can the Reaper's foul vessel."

Naturally, she shuddered at the mention of that name. "One more reason for us to get stronger."

"Indeed", he agreed. While he bore no visible weapons on his belt, the air shimmered strangely around him as he studied the small pocketbook in his hand, suggesting the presence of a Persona, and a strong one. Uh oh... not what I had in mind...!

"Now, captain, Dream Voyager... face me with all your strength! En garde!"

---

A/N: Finally ready to start the next arc with an extra-long chapter, as well as a refresher course of sorts with reminders of where every character stands right now. Hope everyone's getting by okay in the current 'climate', but I'll have to disappoint anyone who thinks I'll be able to write more and update more frequently now- my job is an essential service and we're actually getting forced into extra-long days to compensate. Will still try to proceed with this regularly.

I will also say now that I don't intend on updating this to reflect the new content from P5 Royal. I already set everything up with the original's plot years ago.