The Reaper

It's been over a month since the Metaworld Field Generator on top of Babel Tower entrapped the entire city of Neo Tokyo and all who live within it, isolated from the rest of the world as part of whatever plan the Sumeragi Group is conjuring up.

At Anthem Academy where the members of QUILL's Sheep squad have made into a safe haven for the citizens they've rescued from the monsters born from the human mind called Shadows, an actual structure of law and order has been established by several people who were saved during the Media Tower incident and have made a council for the refugees. Two of these people are Tenjian who has a good head on his shoulders even though he's still a teenager and Mr. Sakurazaki who's revealed to be Ouka's father. Mrs. Sakurazaki was outside the city on business when the Metaworld came down so Ouka doesn't have to interact with her stepmother.

Still the awkwardness of the man speaking to his illegitimate daughter was something no one wanted to get involved with.

"Are you sure you'll be alright Ouka?" Zonda asks as she has no idea how anyone should handle such a situation.

"I'm sure, I do genuinely love my dad. And I'm sure he really cares about me as well." Ouka reassures as they help the refugees with their laundry.

'Considering my father never had a one night stand with a random woman behind my mother's back and ended up getting her pregnant, I can't say I fully understand what you're going through.' the blonde thought as she's reminded of someone else who's even more irresponsible with their promiscuities.

"If you say so." she says as they both decided to not talk about it anymore.

In the infirmary, Elise is helping the school nurses with treating some young kids with cuts and bruises since they were playing pretty roughly, mostly so she can impress Guren.

"Media!" she instantly heals all their little boo-boos as the kids are in awe of her powers.

"It never ceases to amaze me that you can do that even with the more severe injuries!" one nurse says with an impressed tone.

"If anymore people with powers like yours start showing up then nurses, doctors, and surgeons would be out of a job!" another nurse jokingly says.

"Um... these powers only work in this world and not the real one." Elise whispers as the kids leave to go play some more.

"We know that dear, it's too bad though, if it wasn't for the existence of those Shadow monsters than this world would be a better place to live in."

As the nurses continue talking amongst themselves, Elise leaves hoping to spend some more of her time with Guren.

At an empty place between Anthem Academy and the Kamizono mansion where QUILL parked all the vehicles they've used to transport people and items, Gino is converting each of them to be powered by electricity instead of gasoline. Electricity provided by Gunvolt himself I might add.

'Sigh, I only have the potential to be a Persona-user. It doesn't necessarily mean that I can actually awaken it.' Gino sadly thought to himself as he continues working for the team and the refugees.

Monica is with Nimrod making sure that the fresh water supply they're getting from both the mansion and the academy isn't contaminated in any way.

"Anything?" Nimrod asks as he uses his Ichor Septima to manipulate the water so it can be analyzed by Monica's scans.

"No toxins or any chemicals detected. Though I wouldn't put it past Sumeragi to contaminate the city's water supply in order to cripple us or something." Monica states as she shuts off her screens.

"Now that we know they're looking for a person with the Persona called the Muse... Wait! Is it a Persona or Septima power exactly?" Nimrod questions as he gets those two terms mixed up sometimes.

"A Persona is the manifestation of someone's personality, referred to as a 'mask' for an individual to use to face hardship. The mask itself takes the form of an armor that links to how that person sees him or herself." Xiao explains as he walks up to them.

"Septima is the psychic power Persona-users use to, at the most basic level, bend various forms of energy to their will. The power itself depends on the person who has it and no one's Septima is exactly the same as another with a similar ability." Monica explains the other term herself.

"Oh I see, so is the Muse the Persona or the Septima?" Nimrod asks again.

"We don't have any information other than a name so we're not sure. I'm just wonder how Sumeragi even knows that there's a Persona or Septima with that name." Xiao explains in confusion wondering where the Muse's identity even came from.

"For now, neither we nor Sumeragi know who the Muse is since there have been no activity from them after they've collected several people from the Media Tower incident, so it's safe to assume that the Muse wasn't one of them." Monica states as before she leaves to go do some more work in the school grounds.

"That's good at least, since it's Nowa's turn to comb through the information from the Stratacombs, I'm going to take some time to relax." Xiao goes off in another direction to have some fun.

"Hmm... maybe I should convince some of the refugees to use the academy's swimming pool as a recreational activity to take some stress off from the current situation." Nimrod gets the bright idea before heading off himself.

While Acura is busy training, Guren is able to talk to Lola who's not far from her boss.

"Is he doing better Lola?" G.V. asks the floating bot about Acura's mood.

"After taking out Iota personally he's calmed down though how much I can't say. I'm pretty sure he still very much wants to kill Nova with his own hands." Lola explains her boss's current temperament.

"Sigh, I shouldn't be surprised. He is the Avenger after all." G.V. states wondering how worse his second in command could be if it was more than just avenging his father.

"I can only hope he doesn't do anymore reckless things the next time we come across another Sumeragi Persona-user." Lola comments before joining Acura in his training.

Nowa who's nearby working on the Sumeragi intel is also thinking of ways so that her late employer's son doesn't get himself killed fighting the powerful conglomerate.

'Even after everything that's happened I have my work cut out me.' she thought as she continues working.

Back at the academy, the council has just finished their first session in dealing with the affairs of all the refugees needs.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Mr. Sakurazaki says as the council leaves what's suppose to be the student council room.

"For now, but eventually even more people will end up coming here for shelter in the future." Tenjian reminds as people who have the potential will awaken on their own at any given time.

"We can only hope that QUILL can free this city before an entire year passes us by." the green haired businessman states as he thinks up ways to make it up to his daughter.


Later

Guren who's just arrived at the academy is greeted by Elise who was waiting for him.

"G.V.!" she happily waves at him.

"Yo Elise, how's everything?!" he asks as he reaches her.

"It's all good. Just a couple of scrapes and bruises from kids playing. The new council is making sure the people don't get into any fights." she explains just happy that his focus in on her.

"That's great news. Why don't we take a walk around campus? Just a leisure stroll to see how the refugees are doing." Guren suggests to the girl.

"Of course." she agrees as it didn't matter what they did as long as she can spend time with him.

And so the two began their tour of the academy where they were suppose to start their second year of high school in.

Most of the teenagers that are students of the academy are doing fine, especially ones that already have a dorm room. The teachers and other faculty are also adjusting well even though they have to live where they work now.

"Hey Guren!" one of the male students with his other male friends greets G.V. once he saw him as they all go up to him.

"Nice job on rescuing all those people at the Media Tower!" another guy congratulates with a grin.

"Also Michiru-san's brother and that other guy beat the crap out of that Sumeragi blowhard was amazing! A superhero vs supervillain battle in real life!" a third exclaims in excitement.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it." Guren says though somewhat disappointed that they didn't care that they had to kill Iota.

"OMG! It's Gunvolt!" a high school girl and her female friends spot him as they excited rush towards.

"You're so cool! Fighting bad guys and saving people's lives!" one girl swoons as they crowd around him.

"Can you tell us more about your powers?!" another spoke as they pretty much got in between him and Elise who they didn't even acknowledge.

'Of course they want to get on his good side. Sigh, it's the first year all over again.' Elise thought sadly as she's being ignored by everyone again.

Guren however was having none of that when he saw how dejected she looks.

"Another time everyone, my teammate Elise and I are patrolling the academy to see if there's any problems so I'll see you all later." G.V. separates from the group and takes Elise's hand so they can move on.

"Come to think of it, haven't we seen her before?" one of the guys asks his friends.

"I... don't think so. Maybe she was suppose to be a new student before all this happened?" his friend believes as none of the guys remembers Elise from the year before.

The girls' comments on the other hand weren't as pleasant.

"Who does that girl think she is, hogging G.V. all to herself like that?!" one of the girls said indignantly.

"Yeah, she was just a plain girl hanging in the background but now she's all over him just because she has powers now!" her friend complains along with the rest.

After walking a few feet away the two Persona-users continue their walk around the campus.

"Sorry about that, they can get pretty excited about somethings." Guren apologizes to his friend.

"It's alright G.V., I got used to being ignored a long time ago." Elise sadly says as she looks down on the ground.

"Well... I hope you're already used to being my and the others' friend, because we're never going to ignore your existence so you better get used to that." Guren says with a smile as he tries to cheer her up.

"Oh! Well in that case, I'll look forward to it!" Elise smiles as her mood brightens considerably.

With that they enter the building where the academy's indoor swimming pool is located. It's was easy to locate since one of the walls is still busted thanks to the battle against the Rampage Drive on day one.

There they saw Nimrod playing coach/lifeguard to the younger kids who want to play or learn how to swim.

"Hey Nimrod, how's everything going?" Guren asks his newer friend.

"Hey guys, it's all good. I'm just giving these kids some fun activities to pass the time." the eldest male in SHEEP squad answers as he and some other adults watch the kids.

"Well that's one way to alleviate stress for these kids." G.V. nods in approval.

"Why don't you two take a swim also... that is if you can swim... not judging." Nimrod rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

"I know how to swim but I don't really feel like it today." Guren answers before looking at his female companion.

"Eh?! W-well... I n-never really learned h-how!" Elise embarrassingly admitted to them as she twiddles her hands.

"Oh, then maybe I'll teach you how to another time then?" G.V. asks her consider there might be future missions where they need to do just that.

Just picturing Guren wearing nothing but swimming trunks got Elise all hot and bothered.

"I would like that!" she exclaims a little too excitedly.

"Yoshi! That's what I'd like to hear!" Nimrod shouts thinking she's enthusiastic about learning how to swim.

Back at the Kamizono mansion, Michiru has made herself a sandwich to eat after helping out with cleaning the second floor of the the main building.

While eating she sees Acura without Lola following him as he goes to the fridge.

"Yo Bro, you missed lunch with everyone else!" she informs him as he just gets a protein shake.

"I know Michiru, I was busy training." Acura replies as he drinks.

"Jeez! This is exactly why I had you go to school in the first place! You should be spending time with them considering they're fighting by your side and you just went off on your own last time!" Michiru admonishes him when she found out he rushed to face Iota's forces by himself.

"Sigh, I know what I did was by far the dumbest thing I've ever done. If it wasn't for Tenjian I may not have defeated Iota." he sits down on a chair parallel to his sister while not really looking at her.

"You should have known that from the time you guys fought the fly guy." Michiru says frustrated at her twin's stubbornness.

"I know, it's just... I can't forgive Sumeragi, not just for father's death, but the deaths of so many people throughout the years that we don't even know of." he admits realizing how much anger he has inside of him.

"I understand, but it doesn't mean you should just separate from the others whenever you don't agree with what they decide to do." she lectures with worry.

"You're right, I'll apologize to them later, especially to Zonda and Nimrod who made sure nothing really bad happened to me or Lola." Acura finishes his drink and leaves the kitchen.

Guren and Elise continue walking around enjoying each other's company as they spot Zonda, Ouka, and Tenjian.

"Hey you two, taking a lovely stroll around campus?" Ouka teasingly asks.

"Something like that." Guren pretends to not be embarrassed by that comment while Elise just blushes.

"By the way Guren-san, can you help charge the emergency generators? Just in case Sumeragi decides to inconvenience us if they choose to turn off the power the entire academy?" Tenjian asks

"Oh sure, where are they?" G.V. asks since a student wouldn't really know.

"I'll show you the way." Ouka volunteers to show him where they are.

"Thanks, that gives Tenjian and I time to catches up." Zonda says as the duo leaves.

"It's this way you two." Ouka leads both Guren and Elise knowing the silver haired girl would want to stay with her crush.

The emergency generators are at the power station building which is located at the opposite of the main entrance of the main building.

With the main generators still working the emergency ones are currently off.

"They're all slightly below half power." G.V. notices looking at the power gauges.

"This shouldn't be a problem for you Guren, you just have to be careful not to overcharge them." Elise says with full confidence in his abilities.

"Alright, let's do this!" Gunvolt in his Persona form places his hands on the first emergency generator and starts slowly transferring his electricity.

"So how are you and G.V. going along?" Ouka whispers to Elise so Guren wouldn't hear her.

"Huh?! Oh, well... it's been great so far." Elise replies as she watches him with his back turned like she usually did last year.

"It's a good start, but you should start with actually making him think you're very attractive now." Ouka advises

"H-how am I s-suppose to do t-that?" Elise questions as she doesn't have a clue.

'Of course she wouldn't know how.' Ouka thought sadly remembering what she heard about Elise's past.

"Hmm... I know, why don't me and the other girls teach you how to apply makeup properly." the green haired girl offers

"Oh, sure." the timid girl agrees since she has never even owned a makeup kit at all in her life.

"That's one down." Guren states before going to the next generator.

"Wonderful, your already cute face will be even cuter once we're done teaching you how to apply it yourself." Ouka assures with a smile.

'I just hope G.V. would like it.' Elise thought as they continue talking while Guren continues.

At the same time with Zonda and Tenjian.

"So the you woke the in only a few hours from when it started?" Tenjian wants to clarify.

"Indeed, I was also lucky that Guren, Acura, and Elise were with me before the Shadows appeared." Zonda answers thinking back on the first day.

"That is fortunate, though if what you said about Nova using his powers to find Persona-users is true, why didn't he do anything to those who would want to oppose him and Sumeragi?" he asks the million yen question.

"None of us has any idea why Nova is doing what he's doing and why the rest of Sumeragi is following his lead." Zonda couldn't give him a definitive answer to all the madness that's happening and the reason behind it.

"Hmm... whatever it is, it's been in the works for years if those files are any indication so I doubt it's just an experiment to comprehend the power of Persona and Shadows." Tenjian wonders as he's thinking up some theories.

"We're all just teenagers, however, we're the only ones who can fight Sumeragi and the Shadows. It'll be up to us to stop this or die trying." Zonda says as she's feeling the weight of the stakes they've of their mission.

"With friends by your side, I believe we'll make it through this." Tenjian assures his honorary sister by placing his hand on her shoulder.

"That does make me feel a whole lot better." Zonda smiles feeling the love.


A few days later

It took some rehearsing but during dinner Acura finally made a formal apology to his friends and teammates for running off to fight Iota causing the team to split up their mission objectives and almost getting killed.

The others forgave easily enough. From now on he and everyone else shouldn't split from the rest of the team during missions unless it's absolutely necessary and that it should be unanimous.

Meanwhile the girls were teaching Elise how to apply makeup properly and to make sure she doesn't accidently make herself look like a clown.

"Uwa, this is so confusing!" Elise looks at all the lipsticks, eyeliners, foundations, and etcetera that's the other girls brought with them.

"Don't worry Elise, we're all going to school you in everything you need to know!" Michiru exclaims excitedly in being part of this girl time.

"Well... if you say so." the shy girl accepts their supervision.

"Just don't go overboard you girls." Monica warns as she's there to make sure they don't do too much to the poor girl.

"Don't worry Monica, we know what we're doing." Ouka assures as they get started.

"I've already downloaded several How To Do videos on how to use makeup so messing up is impossible!" Lola announces as she categorizes each cosmetic items they have.

"ACHOO!" Elise lets out a big sneeze when dust from a makeup powder puff hits her face.

"This is going to take a while." Nowa couldn't help but comment.

"No argument here." Zonda chuckles a little.

At the same time, Guren has just finished another round of training with the help of Xiao.

"That was your best record yet G.V.!" Xiao praises from the monitor.

"Thanks, but fighting robots has become too easy at this point." the ponytailed one says as he walks off the training area.

"Sorry, it's not like we can just create simulations of Shadows or even the Sumeragi Persona-users we've fought so far." Xiao admits as it would take tech that they currently don't have.

"Don't worry about. Fighting Stratos twice was enough for me and even though I didn't fight Iota, just seeing what he can do would be a pain in the ass to deal with." Guren gives his opinion as he takes a drink of water from a plastic bottle.

"By the way, I never asked before but what do think of our teammates? Considering you've only really known them for over a month by now." Xiao questions as he takes a break from restoring the Stratacombs data.

"What brought this on?" G.V. wonders why.

"Just curious, you've always been a good judge of character before." the young kid answers.

'Though the girls asked me to subtly get your opinion on how you feel about Elise.' he thought to himself.

"Hmm, even though Acura pointed a gun at me when we first met, I thought that he was just a very protective person. Which was evident when he was so adamant in rescuing Michiru."

"At first Zonda seemed like a calm and collected person, but I think it's just a front so other people would like her better. Deep down she's just a normal girl who wants friends."

"Michiru always seems to look at the bright side of things, though she was really depressed when she found out her father is dead, she eventually bounced back up and is doing her best to keep everyone's spirits up."

"I don't really know much about Nowa. All I know is she's very loyal to the Kamizono family and that she is a morally good person."

"Lola for an artificial intelligence is pretty much a human being in my eyes. She's really fun to spend time with."

"Nimrod maybe an eco terrorist but at least he has never harmed innocent people and his heart is in the right place."

"We've only really met Tenjian recently but I can tell that he's a pretty reasonable guy, the fact that Zonda vouches for him means we can definitely trust his judgement on certain things."

'He's saving Elise for last.' Xiao thought believing that Guren is still coming up with a good answer for how he feels about her.

"Finally, Elise is..."

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

"The alarm!" Xiao announces as he gets to work.

Eventually the entire team converges inside the laboratory to see what's up.

Of course it's the random people are about to be released from stasis at a random location from within the city emergency that most of them are used to by now.

"Looks like the people about to awaken are at the Yanaka Cemetery." Xiao discovers when viewing the monitor.

"Isn't that the largest cemetery in the city?" Nimrod asks as he studied the geography and noteworthy locations of Neo Tokyo.

"Affirmative, though we're in luck. Since the dome came down during the morning of that fateful day there aren't that many people who're present in such a place." Nowa sees that there are fewer rescue targets as a cemetery isn't where many living people congregate.

"Right, just because there's less people it doesn't make them any less important." Tenjian states with conviction.

"Couldn't have said it better myself! Alright team, let's get going!" Guren commands with authority.

"Roger!" everyone agrees as they move out to prepare for the rescue.

As they're getting ready G.V. noticed that Elise is hiding her face with her long hair.

"Is something wrong Elise?" he wonders what's wrong.

"Huh?! W-what make you t-think that G-Guren?!" Elise starts panicking when he noticed her trying to sneak away.

"The fact that you're covering most of your face with your hair." Guren answers as he tries to get a better look only for Elise to keep turning her head.

"Uh... well... it's..." she couldn't find a proper excuse to stop him from seeing and being completely embarrassed.

"We were helping Elise apply some makeup, but then the alarm went off and we rushed out before we actually finished!" Michiru explains as she gets in between them to block G.V.'s view.

"Oh um... okay then, Is it going to be a problem during the rescue?" he asks with concern.

"Don't worry Guren, it won't once I wash it off." Elise replies about to head towards the lab's bathroom.

"Uh Elise, the makeup you're wearing isn't the type that can be easily washed away. In fact, it'll only make you look worse." Michiru explains to the retreating girl.

"EEEHHH?!" she can only scream in disbelief.

"I believe I have a solution to your problem Elise-san." Nowa chimes in.

A few minutes later most of SHEEP squad is ready to leave with Nimrod driving one of the transport buses for the rescued people to ride in.

"Where's Elise-san, we can't leave without her, especially since she's the only one who can heal." Tenjian wonders as he sits in the Sheep mobile.

After saying that, Elise comes out of the front door already in her Persona form. What's different is that she's wearing an armored face mask that covers her mouth and nose while the visor she uses for her Gorgan Gaze ability is covering her eyes. So pretty much Elise's entire face is covered so no one could see it.

"Is everything alright Elise?" Ouka asks as she there to see them off.

"Hai, Nowa-san told me that desiring a face mask hard enough will make it so that it will appear onto my armor." Elise explains as she had to really concentrate for her literal wish to come true.

"Well if there's nothing else, let's move out!" Gunvolt declares as they drive of to the cemetery as Ouka waves them good luck.


Yanaka Cemetery

The largest cemetery in Neo Tokyo has existed for centuries as the land is filled with thousands and thousands of graves of the departed.(The exact number I can't tell you, especially since the story takes place in the distant future from 2022.)

Cemeteries are usually quiet places with very little in the ways of noise, but in this instance it is not the case.

"My head! What's going on?!" is the usual question people who are released from their stasis cubes when they regain consciousness.

There are no less than thirty people currently within the area and even though it's not that many compared to previous times, there is the problem that they are all pretty far apart from each other which will be tricky when it comes for QUILL to protect and escort them to their transports.

"That's the gist of it guys. Looks like you'll have to split up to get everyone out of there as quickly as possible." Xiao advises seeing as most of the people are by themselves.

"As always Monica and Gino will stay here and guard the vehicles." Gunvolt said as the two nod their heads in agreement.

"Now that there's six Persona-users we can split into pairs." he states to his five teammates not counting Lola since she's always by Acura's side.

"If none you mind, I'd like to go with Zonda." Tenjian proposes which none of them disagrees.

"Um... if it's not too much to ask? I would like to pair with G.V." Elise whispers as she twiddles her hands glad that her mask is hiding her embarrassed expression.

"Of course not Elise, you should go with whoever you feel most comfortable with." Zonda replies as she and the other girls knew this is a good chance for some more bonding time between the two.

"That means it's you, me, and Lola buddy!" Nimrod slaps Acura on the back much to his chagrin.

"Yay! Team!" Lola cheers with enthusiasm.

"Wonderful." the white haired boy sighs as he's with not one but two overly optimistic people.

"Alright everyone! Let's go save some lives!" Gunvolt announces with determination.

"Roger!" the members of SHEEP squad acknowledges as they move out.

Already screams of terror echo throughout the yard of graves as civilians are suddenly beset by shadowy creatures.

When G.V. and Elise reach two people(one male and the other female) who coincidentally ran into each other as they're being chased by what looks like small winged black cupids wielding bows and wearing the Reverse Lovers mask on their heads. There's also seems to be two different versions of them as well as some are bigger than the others.

Obsessed and Jealous Cupid: Wearing the Reverse Lovers mask, like many Reverse Lovers Shadows they like to inflict the Charm status ailment on their targets.

"The smaller ones are Obsessed Cupids, they possess a wind attack and can heal so be careful Gunvolt. The larger stronger looking ones are Jealous Cupids, no wind attacks but they can still heal. Also they have skills that can inflict Charm and even Panic so watch out for that. Finally, both versions are weak to ice and are either resistant or outright immune to wind." Xiao gives a lengthy explanation of the new Shadows.

It wasn't the ones with wind attacks that's worrying G.V., it's the ones that can inflict Charm. He doesn't want to to have to go through what happened last time Elise was Charmed and he doesn't want to think about what would happen if he gets afflicted by it either.

"Ready Elise?" he asks his companion.

"I'm always ready whenever you are Gunvolt." she says with her confidence for him expressed with the way she spoke.

"Then let's strike!" both of them charge in to save the two people in danger.

"Viper Throw!" Elise throws her kunai hitting several Obsessed Cupids getting their attention so they wouldn't use their Garu attacks on G.V.

The Obsessed Cupids being as strong as the basic Cowardly Maya end up getting destroyed with only one hit.

This gives Gunvolt an easier time as the Jealous Cupids as they try to shoot him with basic piercing arrows.

"Flash Field!" only for them to disintegrate when coming in contact with his electric field.

Before continuing their assault the Jealous Cupids surrounded themselves with a purple aura.

Rakukaja(Single target, defense buff to self or ally.)

"Looks like they increased their defenses meaning they're able to take on more punishment than normal." Xiao explains what they just did.

"Roger that! Flash Field! Mazio!" Gunvolt marks three of them as his streams of electricity whittle down their health.

Marin Karin

G.V.'s forced to end his attack prematurely so he can avoid getting hit with the Charm arrows.

"Slithering Whip!" Elise wraps some Obsessed Cupids with her extended snake arms before throwing them at their stronger counterparts causing damage to all of them.

Thanks to that Gunvolt is able to destroy the Jealous Cupids he was already fighting and even some more of the Obsessed ones.

"Look out G.V.!" Elise warns as one of the Obsessed casted a Garu attack at him.

Luckily with how strong they've all gotten so far Gunvolt was able to easily evade the attack.

The Jealous Cupids decide to act up again but this time instead of using Marin Karin skill that doesn't actually hurt the target, they instead choose a move that would and still have a chance to inflict Charm.

Holy Arrow(Single target light pierce attack, 25% chance to inflict Charm compared to Marin Karin's 40%)

"Flash Field!" these arrows are made of matter instead of energy so G.V. can block them.

"My snakes are in position!" Elise announces as her white snakes have surrounded all the Cupids in a circle.

Gunvolt made sure that the civilians who're in a stupor at seeing two teenagers fight monsters with super powers are not in the line of fire of the battle.

"Go for it Elise!" he gives her the go ahead.

"Poison Mist!"(Multitarget poison) all of Elise's white snakes expel poison vapors that engulf all of the Cupids.

With purple bubbles spewing from their masked mouths indicating that they have successfully been poisoned and are taking damage over time which is the best time to finish them off.

'Elise has already come along way from being a shy and timid girl who stutters and couldn't look at most people in the eyes. Now she has real friends who'll support her and is willing to risk her life for others. Most importantly, she has me!' G.V. thought as he gathers his Septima which feel stronger than before.

He also senses a change within himself as he marks the remaining Jealous Cupids with his gun and jumps in the middle of all of them so that they're all in range.

"Flash Field! Mazionga!"(Medium multitarget electric attack) thicker looking streams of electricity strikes the marked targets while the rest are electrified from within the electric sphere.

In only three seconds all of the Cupids disintegrate into nothingness with no other threats nearby.

"Wow! Looks like you've become stronger than before! Congratulations Gunvolt!" Xiao exclaims in astonishment seeing as the Azure Striker's and even Elise's power level have indeed grown compared to their previous mission.

"Um... G.V.? I think we have a problem." Elise says as she points to the two people they saved.

He looks to see that...

"You're so handsome!"

"You're so beautiful!"

The two people they've rescued are now hugging and kissing each other even though they most likely never met before in their lives.

In the heat of the battle, they obviously got hit with Marin Karin and have fallen in love/lust with each other.

"Can't you just use Charmdi on them?" Gunvolt asks his partner.

"I can, but it would be awkward when they come to their senses." she explains thinking that the young woman would call the young man a pervert and slap him or something.

"Let's just lead them back to the transports." Xiao proposes as the two Persona-users led the lovestruck people to safety.

Who knows? Maybe they'll actually form a relationship after this.

'I hope I'll be Guren's girlfriend eventually.' Elise thought looking at him with longing.

On another location in the cemetery Lola is protecting four civilians from within her dome-shaped barrier as Acura and Nimrod fight off some Shadows.

The enemies they're fighting are lions but are chained with large prisoner balls that have blue masks with the Roman numeral for the number eleven on the spherical weights.

Wild Beast: Wearing the Reverse Strength mask, they're pretty much like real lions who can strengthen themselves with the Tarukaja skill.

"Those are Wild Beasts, they resist piercing attack and are weak to Hama and Mudo skills." Nowa explains the stats of their foes.

"Aw man! I may not be much of a landlubber but even I wouldn't want to harm land animals!" Nimrod bemoans having to slay beasts.

"They're not real lions remember? In the end it doesn't matter how many we destroy, there will always be more Shadows like these." Acura reminds as readies his new ability.

"Arrogant Fang!" his shield turns into its crossbow form with green bowstrings and barrel produces one of Iota swords as it fires an instant laser beam hitting one of the lions causing it to flinch from pain, but that's not all. After the laser ended the sword's green plasma blade ignites before it starts spinning into a drill and shoots straight at the Lion that was hit though instead of heading for the beast itself the drill goes towards the ball where the mask is.

'The mask of any Shadow is where they take the most damage.' Acura thought as the team only recently discovered this fact when Xiao and Nowa were going through the Shadow Compendium.

The plasma drill hits the mask as it slowly but surely digs through the entire ball destroying it which takes the lion part away as well.

"Even after all this time I'm still reeling with the fact that these things come from the human psyche." Nimrod says as he avoids one of the Lion's strike attacks.

The other Lions then engulf themselves in a orange aura.

Tarukaja

"They've boosted their attack power, please be careful not to get hit." Nowa warns the two Persona-users.

Sonic Punch... err Sonic Claw Swipe

The Lions lunge at the two humans so they can swipe at them with their claws.

Acura blocked with his shield which was more effective than Nimrod trying to parry with his trident.

"GUH?!" they're both pushed back a few meters with the damage mitigated in thanks to them guarding but both still lost a good chunk of health.

"Are you guys okay?!" Lola shouts in concern as she and the civilians watch the battle.

"I've been better." Nimrod grunts in pain as his arms really hurt.

"It's unfortunate that no one in the team has Light or Dark skills." Nowa notes as the instant kill moves would be very helpful to them.

"We've always made due with what we have and now's no different." Acura says as he goes to face the Lions once more.

"Right, and since we're fighting Shadows that don't resist electricity let's do the usual combo move!" Nimrod proposes with a smirk.

"Since these are just Shadow, we may as well." Acura agrees without complaint.

"Vortex Rush!" Nimrod conjures water tornados to entrap Lions allowing Acura to attack them.

Thanks to his training after he defeated Iota, Acura is now able to produce much stronger elemental bullets which he loads into his gun.

"Zionga Bullet!" Acura fires one medium electric bullet at each tornado electrifying all the Shadows trapped inside.

Eventually all the Wild Beasts are destroyed with the civilians rejoicing as Lola deactivates her barrier.

"Nice going guys! Especially to you Acura-kun! You definitely have gotten stronger!" Lola cheers as she floats towards him.

"Not the time to celebrate, let's get these people to Monica and Gino." Acura states with Nimrod agreeing.

"Alright you guy! Follow us and we'll get you all to a safe place!" the merman announces with the people following with any complaint.

'We got this rescue in the bag!' he thought with confidence as none of the Shadows in the cemetery are really that difficult.

At another part of the graveyard Zonda and Tenjian encounter five people who are running away from what appears to be pairs of humanoids wearing black priest robes, are morbidly attached by two staves through their wrists and necks, and wearing the Reverse Hierophant mask.

Killer Twins: Wearing the Reverse Hierophant mask, Shadows made up of two humanoids, primarily uses the electric move Zionga.

The pairs that make up one Shadow start raining down medium sized lightning bolts at the people causing them to scream in terror.

"Those are Killer Twins, they only really use electric attack, are weak to fire, and immune to electricity." Xiao lists off

"Zonda, deal with them while I help the civilians!" Tenjian orders since he's older.

"Roger!" she pulls out her cards as they're engulfed by fire.

With his speed Tenjian grabs two people before jumping away from a lightning bolt that was about to hit them.

"What's going on?!" he ignores their scream of fright and astonishment as he keeps them away from the Shadows' attack range.

After the ordeal that was the Media Tower and reuniting with her honorary brother, Zonda was both relieved and frustrated. Even though Tenjian only recently awakened his Persona he was already much stronger than she was despite the fact that she had hers longer.

With everything that's been going on, Zonda forgot the their powers are from their thoughts and beliefs, not their physical prowess.

"My resolve is my strength! Suit of Hearts! Maragion!"(Multitarget medium fire attack) Zonda throws her cards that turn into fireballs that are larger than before hitting several Twins as they get fall down burning on the ground.

"You've really have gotten stronger than before Zonda, you should be proud of that." Xiao notes seeing her pretty much level up like the others.

The battles not over yet as the Twins that didn't get hit are now focusing on the two Persona-users.

Mind Charge

A light blue aura engulfs every Killer Twins that's still standing which looks like they've been charged with more power.

"That's not good! looks like they've powered up so their next magic attack will be twice as strong!" Xiao informs them of something really dangerous.

Zionga

All of the Twins that aren't knocked down aim their powered up lightning bolts at Tenjian all at the same time.

"Makarakarn!" Zonda shields him with a mirror barrier that reflects the lightning back towards the Twins, but since they're immune to electricity they take no damage.

"Phew! That skill still takes a lot out of me." Zonda says sounding exhausted for using a good chunk of her SP.

"Ice Charkram!" Tenjian throws two chakram blades coated with ice spikes as they behead several Twins killing them instantly before returning to him.

The Twins that were knocked down are starting to get up to continue their attack.

"Permafrost!" Tenjian freezes them in places to prevent them from getting up allowing Zonda to finish them off for good.

"Once more! Suit of Hearts! Maragion!" Zonda with the addition of a few clones throws their fireball cards at all the remaining Twins burning them until they're nothing but ash.

With all the Killer Twins gone the innocent people who came to the graveyard in order to pay their respects to the deceased sigh in relief that they're not joining them anytime soon.

"Great work guys! You've definitely improved Zonda!" Xiao smiles at her performance.

"Everyone! Follow us to safety! We'll protect you all from the monsters!" Tenjian declares as the civilians didn't need to be told twice.

Minutes later, the three teams of two have successfully escorted the people they've found to where their vehicles are at the cemetery entrance.

"So far so good." Gino mutters as Monica is over at the transport bus doing what she can to ease the people's worries as the field team goes back inside the cemetery grounds to find the rest.

"Looks like everyone's doing great for the most part." Xiao states not sounding concerned at all.

Fifteen minutes later each teams of two returns with more people, some were injured but it's nothing Elise's Diarama(Medium single target heal) couldn't fix.

"Our whole battle against Sumeragi and the Shadows would have been more difficult without Elise-san's healing abilities." Nowa points out.

"We've already rescued twenty people so far. The last ten are at the other side of the cemetery if the scanners are reading right." Lola mentions since she's linked to the main computer.

They've reached a part of the graveyard where the mausoleums are located looking for the remaining civilians.

"I don't see anyone, they're probably hiding inside several of these crypts." Gunvolt suspects as there's no one else but them in the open field.

The three teams split off to check every mausoleum for the remaining people who are probably hiding.

G.V. and Elise enter one to find a an elderly woman who crying both out of fear and loss.

"My love, it looks like I'll be joining you soon." the old woman cries as she places her hand on the stone coffin.

"Ma'am, we're here to rescue you." Gunvolt says in a calm manner with Elise peeking behind him.

Despite their unusual attire the old woman seems dismissive.

"What is the point in living any further? My beloved husband is dead right here and I'm not long for this world anyways." she says with a very sad expression.

"Be careful G.V., this is definitely a delicate situation." Xiao warns him to choose his words carefully.

'It looks like she no longer has any reason to live anymore.' Elise thought knowing how the elder feels before she met Guren.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry that your husband has passed while you still live." Gunvolt remembers the car accident that killed his parents and the funeral that was held before he was sent to the orphanage.

Back then, he didn't see the point of continuing to live until Asimov found him.

"Even though you're in your twilight years, it doesn't mean you should just accept a grisly death at the hands of those monsters called Shadows." he tries to convince her not to accept that way to die.

"That's kind of you to say young man, it does genuinely make me happy that the youth of today still has a sense of justice and duty." the elder stands up and wipes her tears with a handkerchief.

"I never knew your husband, but I'm pretty sure he would have wanted you to live your happily until the very end." Gunvolt ends his piece.

"How can I refuse the words of an earnest young man." she smiles as her bout of depression ceases.

"You know exactly what to say as always G.V." Elise smiles at her crush.

They exit the mausoleum as the elderly woman slowly walks with the use of her cane.

Acura, Nimrod, Lola, Zonda, and Tenjian rejoins them along with the remaining people who were also hiding inside the other crypts.

"That is everyone who has been released from stasis, once you all return the mission will be accomplished." Nowa says as there are no more human signatures in the cemetery.

"Considering we have an elderly here, it's going to take us a while to get back." Zonda reminds as she doubts the old woman would want to be carried by any of them.

Suddenly the map that Xiao and Nowa look over are now showing some dangerous readings.

"Uh guys! There's a lot of Shadows converging on your location!" Xiao warns with a worried tone.

"How many?" Acura queries as he readies his gun.

"A hundred at least." Nowa answers

"That's just great!" Nimrod sighs nervously.

"Circle formation!" Gunvolt commands as the team surrounds the noncombatants in order to protect them.

Soon enough many Shadows that they've all fought before appear and surround the humans looking to attack because that's what they always do.

"What do we do?!" Elise asks scared since they never fought so many Shadows at once before.

'I'm pretty sure the six of us and Lola can take all of them but I'm not too sure we can come out unscathed while protecting the refugees.' G.V. thought as he gathers his Septima.

As the Persona-users and the Shadows are about to do battle...

RATTLE

A loud sound of chains rattling echo throughout the cemetery.

Then something happens that the members of SHEEP squad have never experienced before is happening right now.

"SQUEEEE!" all of the Shadows, and I mean all of them start fleeing while wailing in terror.

"NANI?!" Zonda couldn't help but shout in confusion.

"What's going on?" Acura wonders just as baffled.

"Despite how much stronger you've become since we began the Shadows have never fled like scared animals." Xiao comments trying to think up of a reason for their behavior.

RATTLE

The loud sound of chains rattling is heard once again by all of the human beings.

"There's that sound again, what is that?" Tenjian queries as even though he's new he read up on most of the information Nowa has on the main computer.

"That sound, where's it coming from?" G.V. and the others try to scan the area but the fog as always is making it difficult.

"Whatever it is, it's getting closer." Lola says as she uses her sensors.

RATTLE

A silhouette appears through the fog and is definitely not a human or robot.

And once the figure appears for everyone to see, words can't describe how horrifying they all felt deep down inside.

It's a humanoid figure that's floating because it has no visible legs and feet, it's wearing a long black tattered coat that's covered in what looks like dried blood, two metal chains are wrapped around its body which explains the rattling sound, it's wearing a bloody white sack that covers its entire head except for a torn hole which reveals a menacing glowing yellow eye, finally it's wielding two long barrel revolvers on each hand.

"Wha! Wha! Wha! What is that thing?!" Elise couldn't help but scream out.

"It's power level is nothing we've ever seen before." Nowa reveals as even she is looking strained.

"I'm currently going through the Shadow Compendium to see what information it has on that thing! But I do know that there's only one thing you should all do..." Xiao says as he looks through the database.

"RUN!" Gunvolt shouts as he picks up the old lady bridle style as he, his team, and the other civilians run the F away from the monster.

Seeing its prey flee the dangerous Shadow aims its dual pistols at them.

Magarudyne(Multitarget heavy wind attack)

Explosions caused by the wind attacks destroys several of the mausoleums around the party as they narrowly avoid both direct hits and the debris that shot towards them.

"This things on a totally different level!" Nimrod yelps as he uses a water stream to surf above the others.

"It's chasing us!" Lola yells as she knows it's easy to do so since she and the Shadow can float over many obstacles.

"Million Eater!" Acura fires a swarm of flies towards the monster chasing them.

Myriad Arrows(Multitarget medium pierce attack)

It fires multiple shots from its revolvers killing most of the swarm to a point where the damage is negligible.

"Bufula!" Tenjian shoots a medium ice spike at it but it didn't seem to do any relevant damage at all.

"Gorgon Gaze!" Elise tries to petrify it but even when facing directly at her it didn't get turned to stone at all.

"No way!" she then decides to throw several kunai at it but the pierce damage didn't even make it flinch nor did the snakes' poison affect it at all.

"Suit of Clubs! Garula!"(Single target medium wind attack) Zonda throws cards with the wind element at it.

"Agilao Bullet!"(Single target medium fire attack) Acura shoots a fire bullet as well.

The attacks hit bit it didn't make the Shadow grunt in pain at all.

"Nothing's working on this thing! Hydro Zapper!" the beams of water from the aqua orbs hit the creature but it's pushing through not being stopped at all.

'I can't fight while carrying this elderly lady.' G.V. thought as the civilians scream in terror as they ran.

"Elise, can you carry her please?" he asks their healer.

"Huh?!" she didn't get a chance to respond before Gunvolt hands the elder to her to carry.

"Flash Field! Zionga!" he marks the target with three darts before unleashing streams of lightning to continuously whittle its health.

The Shadow does show visible discomfort from the relentless assault but the damage is only one unit of health per second against a very large pool. It would take over thirty minutes at least for the Shadow to lose a quarter of its total health.

Spirit Drain

G.V. stopped his attack when it felt like he ran a marathon all of a sudden.

"What the...?!" he started panting in exhaustion.

"Gunovlt-san, it seem it siphoned a portion of your Septima and took as its own." Nowa explains

"That's not good!" Lola shouts as her P-bits' lasers are just as futile as the others.

The gun wielding Shadow aims specifically at Acura.

Mudoon(Single target darkness skill, 40% chance to instant knockout/kill, high odds)

"That's a Dark attack, get out of the way Acura!" Xiao warns as a dark sigil surrounds the Avenger despite being on the move.

"Makarakarn!" Zonda uses more of the high SP cost ability on Acura which reflects the dark spell back at the Shadow but looks like it's completely immune to it.

Tenjian picks up the White Rabbit seeing as her SP is low and is very tired now.

"Arrogant Fang!" Acura fires a floating sword that fires a quick beam that hits the Shadow before shooting towards it with its plasma drill.

Ziodyne(Single target heavy electric attack)

It fires a single powerful lightning bolt completely destroying the sword before it could reach it.

"It's too powerful for any of you even with all of you fighting together! Just get out of there!" Xiao yells as he finally finds the information he was looking for.

And what he read only filled the youngest member of SHEEP squad with even more dread.

After Xiao said it was unanimously agreed that fighting was useless and they all decided to focus all their efforts to fleeing back to the vehicles and head straight back inside the zones covered by the Anti-Shadow Field Generators.

Mabufudyne(Multitarget heavy ice attack)

Large blocks of ice started raining down on the humans. Lola was doing her best to shield the civilians with her barrier acting like an umbrella while Nimrod and Tenjian are doing their best to shatter the blocks into more smaller pieces.

Elise was also particularly fearful since she's weak to ice.

What seems like hours with all the barrage of powerful attacks though it was only a few minutes the team and the people they're escorting have finally reached the area of the cemetery where they can finally see the entrance where their transports are.

"Hurry up you guy!" Gino shouted from the driver's seat of the SHEEP mobile while Monica sat behind the wheel of the transport bus with the door open for the remaining people to enter inside.

"It's still chasing them! Our only hope is that the vehicles are able to out run it." she mutters looking very worried.

Mind Charge

The Shadow stop moving before it charges for its next magic attack.

"That's not good!" Zonda shouts knowing what it's about to do.

"It's going to unleash a very powerful magic attack that's been double in destructive power, I advise getting out of its attack range." Nowa states as the field team reach the vehicles.

As the refugees enter the transport bus with Elise placing the old lady down on a seat the other Persona-Users decided to jump on top of the roof of either vehicles before Gino and Monica sped off.

The team watches as the Shadow floats right at the entrance until it reaches the edge and no further before pointing one of its revolvers in the sky.

Megidolaon(Multitarget severe Almighty attack)

A beam of light crashes down from the sky onto a few meters from where the two vehicles just were as the destructive explosion widened from the epicenter chasing the fleeing humans.

"Must go faster! Must go faster!" Gino exclaims as he and Monica stepped on the gas/power pedal fully to achieve each vehicles' max speed.

"WHAAA!" Elise screams with fear at the incoming destruction while inside the transport bus.

"What power." Tenjian couldn't help whisper as the explosion finally stops before it could reach them.

Behind them is a large crater as though a powerful bomb detonated leaving nothing standing. The Shadow watches its prey in the distance before slowly retreating back within the cemetery as though it's not able to leave the land filled with the remains of the dead.

Gunvolt and the others sigh in relief that the very deadly monster is no longer chasing them, though dread the fact that they might encounter it again in the future.


Later on that evening

The team managed to return to Anthem Academy no worse for wear, but extremely exhausted. The thirty people they've rescued sighed in relief at the sight of so many other human beings and the fact that they're safe from the monsters that attacked them at the cemetery.

Both Ouka and Michiru are helping Nowa with dinner. Ever since the team came back to the mansion, they all looked like they're about to pass out. Xiao came in the living room where the group is as Gino and Monica are sitting on the side just as down as the Persona-users who fought on the field.

"You've all dodged a bullet that time. I haven't been that tense since you guys fought Stratos for the first time." he states as sits down with them.

"Xiao... what was that thing?" Lola asks as she floats in her combat pod form.

"What you've all encountered was the Reaper." he simply answers.

"The Reaper?" Acura questions

"It's a very powerful Shadow. Not only that, it's unique in that it's the only known Shadow of the Reverse Death Arcana. That's why it wasn't wearing any of the twelve Shadow masks you'd usually see on them."

"Is that the only thing that makes the Reaper special?" Guren asks while Elise sat next to him.

"From what's written on the Shadow Compendium, the Reaper represents humanity's fear of death. That explains why it's so strong."

"I see, humanity... no, all living things have at least an instinctual fear of death. With so many feeling the same way it's no wonder why it's so powerful." Tenjian remarks remembering reading about the power of belief while in the Metaworld.

"The fear of death huh? Let me guess, even if we manage to actually defeat the Reaper, another one will appear eventually?" G.V. rhetorically asks Xiao.

"That's right. The Reaper maybe a unique Shadow, but it's not one of a kind. As long as people fear death at least one Reaper will always exist in the Metaworld." the young lad confirms

"That just great! How are suppose to deal with an overpowered monster?! I doubt even the Sumeragi Persona-users would be able to fight it off!" Nimrod complains at how unfair their situation is becoming.

"Come to think of it, why haven't we encountered the Reaper before now?" Zonda questions though glad thinking back on the previous weeks.

"There's at least one good news about all this. It seems that the Reaper will only be at places that represent death and cemeteries are the most obvious example." Xiao says with a smile.

"So as long as we avoid places that represent death we won't encounter that monster." Monica surmises as she begins marking areas with skulls including all of Neo Tokyo's graveyards.

"Let's just hope there aren't any more people who are in stasis in those places." Guren states as Elise was sleeping with her head on his shoulder.

'With all that happened, Elise totally forgot the she was hiding her face because of her incomplete makeup but I think she's actually very pretty.' he thought as he watches her resting form.

The others nodded, it's been decided that they would avoid places that the Reaper will appear. If they needed to go to those places to save people then it should be done as quickly as possible.

If the Reaper does appear then everyone should just flee instead of fight. It would be pointless anyways since like all Shadows, another will just appear somewhere.


The Next Day

Ouka was doing her daily routine of helping out the refugees at the academy. She thought back at her friends. Even though they rescued everyone, no one was in good spirits since they could only retreat when faced with such a terrible monster.

She sees Guren playing with some kids to alleviate his stress from the fact that even though he's the strongest of QUILL's Persona-users, he was no match for the Reaper.

'Sigh, G.V. you're putting to much pressure on yourself as the leader.' Ouka thought as she continues her duties.

She suddenly stops when she sees Elise peeking behind one of the school building's corners and watches Guren fondly from behind.

"What are you doing?" Ouka asks when she walks behind her.

"EEEHHH!" Elise screams in fright before falling on her butt.

"O-Ouka-san?!" she's surprise the green haired girl wanted to interact with her in a public place since all her life no did so.

Why are you hiding while watching Guren, it's not like he doesn't know you even exist?" Ouka asks perplexed at the silver haired girl's action.

"Gomen'nasai, I-it's a h-habit from l-last year. I'd follow G.V. a-around the a-academy in between c-classes." Elise replies looking very embarrassed as she twiddles her hands.

"You don't have to do that anymore, you and him are currently friends and teammates." Ouka reminds her

"I know, but I'm still shy when showing affection in public where other people can see." the formerly lonely girl explains.

"Right, you're afraid some girls will resent you and start bullying." Ouka knows how females think when it comes to doing bad things to another.

"Sigh, it's always been like that for me." Elise dejectedly admits that in the past if she wasn't being completely ignored, she would get bullied by other girls since she was always alone.

Ouka thought for a bit. She doubts those jealous girls will leave Else alone even though she's a Persona-user. They can't do anything physical to her but verbal bullying can still happen.

"I know, why don't we play with those children along with G.V.? It'll just look we're entertaining those kids." Ouka suggests to the girl who finally stood up.

"Well... okay. That sounds like a good idea." Elise agrees even though she has no idea how to deal with children.

With Tenjian doing his daily affairs in the council Zonda was hanging out with Michiru.

"I'm glad all of you made it out safe and relatively unharmed." Michiru spoke to blonde girl as they took a break and are drinking tea with snacks.

"Yes, but the encounter with the Reaper shook us all up. Our morale right now isn't very good. I just hope it won't be a problem during our next mission." Zonda says as she takes a sip of her tea.

Indeed, if it's another civilian rescue then it would be no problem, but if the next mission they have to deal with Sumeragi then their current lethargic attitude would make things difficult.

"If only there's a way we can help you guys more." Michiru sighs dejectedly as she, Ouka, Gino, Monica, Xiao, and Nowa wish they can do more than just be moral and technical support.

"I know it's hard for you guys to stand in the sidelines but we can't force those with potential to become Persona-users. We'd be no better than Sumeragi if we did that." the composed girl states to her friend.

"Sumeragi... Shadows... this Metaworld is becoming more and more dangerous and that I hope we can put an end to this soon. If this keeps up then a lot of the innocent civilians will end up dead." Michiru admits fearing for everyone.

Zonda couldn't respond to that. After all, they were all still teenagers who never thought any of this would ever happen.

Meanwhile at the Kamizono Laboratory Acura and Nimrod were 'sparing' with each other due to Lola convincing the merman as she didn't think her boss would be satisfied destroying training robots.

No words except the calling of the names of their special attacks for some reason as they sparred were said. There's an unspoken conversation that they both wish to become stronger so that eventually the entire team can be able to take out the Reaper whenever they would run into one.

"It doesn't look like it, but they're actually having fun sparring with each other." Lola says to herself as she floats at the side of the training area since it should be a one on one fight.

Xiao, Monica, Gino, and Nowa are doing their work as usual. Even though none of them actually faced the Reaper personally, they all felt the same amount of dread that the field team did.

Gino as usual is making sure that all the vehicles powered by electricity are in good condition. After all, even one faulty equipment can determine whether someone lives or dies.

Monica despite not being good a navigator as Xiao and Nowa is helping them with all the information they got from Sumeragi. In the Shadow Compendium there didn't seem to be any other ridiculously powerful Shadow like the Reaper so that's good at least.

'I just hope we don't have to go to places where the thought of death is prevalent any time soon.' Monica thought as she reads through the information.

Xiao and Nowa are immersed in restoring the data they got from the Stratacombs. When they thought back at the location, both wondered why the Reaper didn't appear there. Eventually they realized that because it's a secret location most didn't know about so the collective thoughts many of living beings wouldn't be able to think of such a location as a place of death.

After the children got tired of playing, Ouka left saying she still has things to do leaving Guren and Elise alone. Both teens are now resting in a secluded area in the academy as both tries to find a way to start a conversation without embarrassment. Eventually it was Elise who spoke first.

"G.V., are you really alright?" she asks with a worried look.

"Well... I've been better." he replies with a sad expression.

"I know well enough about you that you are really distraught. Maybe you can tell me about it if it's okay with you." the shy girl gathered her courage when she said that.

"Sigh, I'm just disappointed in myself when I think back on the encounter with the Reaper." the young man admits with a sigh.

Indeed, all the team members except Elise, who specializes in healing support, can dish out effective damage at their enemies especially if they're weak to an element but the Reaper brushed off all of their attacks like they were nothing.

Even Gunvolt who possesses the most destructive power out of all of them could only do minimal damage a second which would still take too much time to chip away its health, time that the Reaper would definitely not give him.

Despite having the power of Persona, he and the others felt helpless against such a foe. Hearing this, Elise places her hand on Guren's clenched one showing his frustration.

"I know it was hard having to run away, but surviving and continuing to live is more important than victory." she says as his hand unclenches feeling more calm than a moment ago.

G.V. doesn't respond but does take a hold of Elise's hand causing her to blush and feel great happiness.

"Can you stay with me here for a while Elise?" he asks as he looks at her eye to eye.

Once again Elise gets mesmerized by Guren's blue eyes before snapping out of it before she gives him a small smile and nods her head.

They both sat alone in the secluded area where no would normally go to when walking around the academy as they enjoy the silence and each other's company.

While rescuing civilians after they woke up from stasis at the Yanaka Cemetery, we encountered a horribly strong Shadow that represents the fear of death itself. The Shadow that's been named the Reaper appeared and attacked us. Our attacks virtually did nothing to it while we barely avoided its own devastating assault as we ran away. Even though we rescued the civilians, it was a demoralizing experience. I just hope our spirits can be restored before the next battles against our enemies.

End of chapter


Shadow Compendium Database

Name: The Reaper

Major Arcana: Death(Reversed)

Description: A powerful Shadow that symbolizes humanity's(and other living creature's) fear of death. Will only appear in places that people would think of where death is commonly seen.

Resists: Slash, Strike, Pierce, Fire, Ice, Electricity, Wind. Immune: Light, Dark

Weak to: None


Important characters

The Fool 0(Upright): Acura Kamizono

The Empress III(Upright): Lola, Monica, Nowa, Ouka, (Gino and Xiao technically count)

The Emperor IV(Reversed): Iota(Deceased)

The Hierophant V(Upright): Tenjian

The Lovers VI(Upright): Zonda

The Hermit IX(Upright): Elise

The Strength XI(Upright): Guren Val

Death XIII(Reversed): The Reaper

The Temperance XIV(Reversed): Stratos(Deceased)

The Devil XV(Reversed): Shiden Tsukuyomi

The Star XVII(Upright): Michiru Kamizono

The Moon XVIII(Upright): Nimrod