Chapter Thirty-Three

Yume wakes up at five thirty in the morning, realizes she can't get back to sleep, and so tries out her new library card. She stands in the middle of her bedroom and drops it. Black sparkles trail behind the card, the world shits, and then she's grabbing the Fool tarot card and skipping up to the Library.

"I didn't expect you so early," is the only comment Angel has. The adult stays until Yume's picked out a book from the to-be-shelved cart and then she leaves without a care.

The little girl flips open the book, which is supposed to be on Fools, and makes a confused noise at the multiple languages it's written in. She can read every word, but sometimes paragraphs stop mid-sentence and switch from Japanese to English or Italian dots the margins. After flipping through the pages just to see if it continues, it is revealed some of it is written in pseudo code. There is a nine-line recursive function on two pages. What. The. F-

"Excuse me?" Yume finds Angel in the shelves sorting through books. "Can you read this?"

Angel picks up the book and starts to read the nine lines. Except when she says isn't nine lines but about a page and a half of Italian with some smattering of Japanese. "I'm sorry. You probably didn't understand most of that. The books here change so you should be able to understand. You just have to believe you'll understand everything you're going to read."

Yume takes the book back with the utmost blank expression. "Please explain how belief translates a book."

Angel makes a face under her mask and the impression Yume gets is that this woman hates everything. "So, welcome to the Metaverse. It's believed that this place balances the area between the human subconscious and the shards of demonic powers. Here, anything is possible as long as you can convince your subconscious to believe it as well. If you believe, really and truly believe, that you can read that book, then everything in that book will be written in a language you can understand."

Yume makes a dissatisfied noise. "That seems really overpowered."

"Oh, it is. However, there are limitations. It comes down to your willpower when faced with someone or something else in the Metaverse. That book holds little to no willpower, so your mentality has the ability to overtake it and change it to your desire. Once you are done oppressing it, it will revert back to its original form. If I were to force my will over it while you were trying to read, then it would transform into something I can read because I have more willpower than you."

Rude. Yume bristles but Angel cuts her off.

"It has to do with age. The older you get, the more you are able to put your all into something. Since you're so young, you won't be able to change most things until your teenage years. But, since you're starting so young, with enough practice you'll have lots of control by the time you start battling monsters and exploring dungeons."

Yume plasters on a smile and chirps, "Thank you!" while going back to her table to read. Inwardly, she curses up a storm. Just another hinder. No wonder she couldn't find anything to stop her dance teacher. Forcing herself to believe shouldn't be too much of a problem, but how does that compare when she doesn't have a Persona?

What does it mean to the magical-powers if she's had a life before this one?

At least it isn't the power of friendship. Yume takes comfort she isn't being screwed by having to make friends that she'd risk her life for. Making friends on her own terms is nice, but she's not jumping off a cliff for anyone.

(Headshot.)

Making a face at the sour taste in her mouth, Yume swallows hard and cracks open the book again. She never even wondered if she could have read it; a rookie mistake. She'll have to get creative in her thinking when she starts doing willpower-whatever. Imagination. Belief. Asserting mental dominance in a level of the populace's subconscious; what could go wrong?

The Fool is the strongest arcana typing to ever be associated with a human.

One sentence in, and apparently everything can go wrong for Yume. Good to know. Fools can speak with demons, blah, blah, bring change, yadda, yadda, can only activate and maintain their abilities by making a contract with the leader of a Building or Room.

Whoops. No wonder they called her Cheater. Yume is a free agent of change, and that's apparently a big no-no with both humans and demons. Good thing she managed to make herself the highest-level administrator and redacted her file from everyone who wants a read. Real life successes she can handle. Magical flukes will be harder to cover up when she doesn't know the rules.

Yume finishes the chapter and finds Angel again. "Please hold this book for me."

"Okay?"

"See you in a couple hours!"

"W-what?"

Yume smiles disarmingly and waves, already halfway out of the aisle. "Hitoshi is bringing me back here to learn stuff!"

Angel just blinks. When nothing else is said, Yume does her goodbyes again and gets back to her apartment in time to meet Sojiro for breakfast. Then it's off to the park with Ms. Eguchi to meet with Ryuji and be a kid for a while.

Though, her friends are in trouble. She really needs to hurry up this tutorial and help them before she can think about being a kid again.

;;;

When Hitoshi brings her back to the library from her apartment in the afternoon, a computer monitor has been turned around and set to a local news channel. There's also a new person in a blue skin-suit with glowing green lines running up and down it crouched by the monitor attached to a laptop.

"Navi," Hitoshi greets with fondness. "I didn't think you'd come here today."

"I want to see this on the big screen," says a cute, squeaky voice. The mask swings around, large blue with goggles for the eyes. Sneakers scuff as she stands, and Yume recognizes Mary Macdonald by her red hair no matter how distracting the other colours are. "Who are you?"

"I'm Cheater!" Yume chirps, pulling up the scarf over her mouth to show her smile yet keep her cheekbones and nose covered. The mask only covers so much, after all. "Nice to meet you!"

Mary leans down and blinks a few times. "Oh, wow! You're pretty young, aren't you?"

"She is," Hitoshi says, careful not to shift Yume's tight hair bun when he pats her head. The little girl hisses theatrically. "Are Angel or Chemist around? We're going to test for her strengths and weaknesses."

"Good idea," Mary hums, going back to fiddling with the computers. She waves over her shoulder. "Let me know how it goes so I can update my info on you, Cheater. It's all a little glitchy looking at you."

"Okay!"

Chemist comes out of the aisles with an empty book cart. "Oh, hello. Angel left your book behind the counter."

"Thanks!" Yume smiles with sparkles.

Hitoshi looks curiously at her but doesn't ask. "Chemist? Is the training room free?"

The man lights up behind his white-blue mask. "Yes, come along! We've got a show to put on!"

Very excitable, that one. Yume hums and follows into what looks like a small metal field. There are white marks on the ground to tell halfway, the opponent's and challenger starting boxes and the "-boundary of the magical field," Chemist explains. "So we can watch from the outside and have safe zones if things start to get out of hand. Step here, please."

Yume follows the directions and steps into the white lines of a rectangle. Chemist moves to the other one across the field while Hitoshi leans on the wall of Yume's side to watch. The magician unhooks the bo staff from his back and smiles. "You just need to stand there, Cheater. I'll run through some easy attacks. All you have to do is realize these attacks won't kill you."

"It's all about the mind," Yume says, thinking back to Angel's words about the books.

"Yes!" Chemist took it as a question. "Exactly! It takes a lot of mental fortitude, but sometimes you can even block an attack by realizing it isn't going to hurt. Don't focus on that now, though. Just repeat 'this won't kill me' over in your head and let me know when you're getting tired."

"Okay," Yume nods. She's cursing in her head because physics is a hard lesson to unlearn. Constantly thinking outside the box is going to be a pain. Hopefully she hasn't screwed everything up by plopping herself into the Metaverse without a contract.

"Here I come."

This won't kill me, Yume thinks as Chemist runs across the field. This won't kill me. He twirls and swings the staff down at scary speeds. This won't kill me. Yume's eyes harden as her teeth bare under the scarf. This will not kill me!

Still, she flinches.

"Ow," Yume groans and clutches her head. "That hurt."

"No resistance," Chemist sighs and shoulders the weapon on his back. He's reached for his hip before Yume can shake off the newspaper-whacking feel. "Now, this."

The little girl is petrified at the gun pointed at her head.

She's not breathing.

(Nononononono-)

Bang!

The world goes black just as her backside lands on the ground.

(Headshot.)

Yume comes to with Hitoshi worriedly shaking her awake. "Wha happend?"

"You're weak to projectiles," Chemist grimaces, flinching at the no duh glare Spike aims his way. "I'm sorry. That's the rarest weakness for a Persona user to have, so I wasn't thinking when I fired."

Of course she would be. Yume shivers and hopes that's the only weakness she has. Death via gunshot really has left it's mark beyond her nightmares. Of course it couldn't be a resistance. Not when she's scared to stare down a barrel, no matter how defiant she is to the end.

"Or you would have seen her terrified," Hitoshi grits out, holding the girl close to his side as he helps her stand. "We're done for the day."

"Let me try the magic," Chemist pleads. Hitoshi is all levels of unimpressed and Yume wants to side with him. Never mind set-backs on her coping methods, she's lucky not to be comatose from the shock. "This will keep limit how much terror she has to face."

"No," Hitoshi declines flatly.

"I can do it," Yume whispers, not trying to smile. A jagged mess of emotions means wanting to curl up and cry for a bit. There is a tugging in her chest, though. Slowly calming down the sharp edges. "Let's just finish it."

Hitoshi goes to deny again, but swallows at the hollow look he's faced with. "The moment you're done, you let us know."

"Okay."

The lack of perkiness startles the men. Hitoshi sits down and drags her into his lap, giving her comfort with a tight hug that Yume barley responds to. "I'm staying with her."

"I won't hit her again," Chemist protests.

"I'm staying here."

"You'll mess up the readings."

"You already have my numbers. Just subtract them from her."

Chemist groans and mutters about making more work but walks over to his side. He sets his feet. The man grabs the edge of his white top hat and tilts it over his eyes. Then he throws his head back, righting the hat. "Flamel!"

As in, Nicholas Flamel. Suddenly, Yume makes sense of his Chemist nickname.

Flames brush by them, made from the bottle the Persona shakes and releases. Near painfully hot, but they don't leave burns. Ice follows, unbearably cold but leaving no frost. Yume flinches more at the sound of electricity than the actual shocks. Wind rushes by like razors but doesn't cut. Psychosis just makes her head pound for a few moments. She groans at nuclear because the force of it hurts even if there is no radiation.

"I'm weak to physical attacks," Hitoshi admits as he picks her up and carries her over his shoulder. "It's also a rarity. Honestly, some days I'm sure the spikes on my outfit are to turn others off from physically attacking me."

Yume hums and watches Chemist work at the free computer. She is set down on the table and leans against her soon-to-be guardian. "What are you doing, Ms. Navi?"

"Miss?" Mary mouths to herself. She shakes her head and rolls the chair she's on over. "I'm waiting for a news channel to show our success. Someone has to record this stuff, since our esteemed leader is en route back home."

"Someone is going to admit to doing something very bad," Hitoshi says slowly, explaining it to Yume. "It's what happens when you change their palace; make them realize their wrongdoings. Only, we need to make sure our group isn't brought up in the news and that he really did have a change of heart."

"Oh," Yume says softly. "And… are you going to do that to my teacher?"

"We will," Hitoshi promises. "And I will keep you updated as we go."

"Congratulations, Cheater," Chemist turns the monitor around with a wave. "All you have is a weakness to projectiles. Everything else will effect you normally."

"Ouch," Mary mutters.

"We'll handle it," Hitoshi says.

"It's on!" Mary leaps to her feet and rushes to her computer. "Angel! Come see this!"

And so Yume watches a man break down in tears on live television as he admits to the atrocities he's committed. It's both fascinating and horrifying to watch. Yume knows of so many people who could end up like this, and who is she to decide? Who is she to name drop and speed along the process?

She is Yume. More importantly, she's done worse things than spread a little information in her past life. A quick check reminds her that she doesn't have a palace and she'll strive to never have one. Morally grey, dark grey, and still recognizing what she does is bad.

Great and terrible things, Yume hums at an unbidden quote.

But she's just a side character at best, plot device at worst. The great and terrible things will have to be kept away from her to avoid all possible life-or-death situations. That's fine.

Point the gun away from her head. She's not a Persona user.

;;;

"Your Primary Arcana is the title everyone will refer to you as," Angel explains to Yume while the others flick through channels to get all the information on the public's opinion of their last target. "So, until yours changes, you'll be considered a Fool. However, as people are ever-changing beings, your primary will continue to change until either a major life event or you pass through puberty. You… do know what puberty is, right?"

"Ee!"

"Okay," thank goodness goes unsaid, "Also to note, a list of skills and base-line personality traits have been found to be shared between those with the same primary. Such as how Fools are able to manipulate time once they're strong enough.

"Secondary is where things start to get tricky. Normally those don't ever get mentioned outside of Arcana testing. Your secondary is usually how you stand out from others like you with the same primary. It offers different skills, strengths, and weaknesses. Now, it isn't possible to create a bond with someone's secondary, but others can still feel the effects if it is strong enough."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a bit hard to describe, easier to see. There's a saying, like attracts like. Also, there's another saying that opposites attract. So, two people with the same Primary Arcana get along great. Fool are the opposite in this case, attracting other opposites to them."

"So…?"

"So, don't be surprised if you end up really friendly with other Primary Fools. That book you were reading explains more about Fool attraction, but just know attraction only starts for active Persona users and with you being inactive it's likely not going to be a problem. Oh, but don't be surprised if you make an enemy of people with a Secondary Fool."

"What? Why would that happen?"

"Same reason I wouldn't like getting along with a Secondary Priestess. We'd be at each other's throats if I had their primary for my secondary. It just happens, because part of us wants to fulfill a role and is jealous someone else can do it better. The only way around it is to spend long days with each other… or be opposite genders. No idea why but you won't automatically hate a guy with a Fool secondary like you would a gal with it, so good luck."

Yume groans, it's just a lot. A lot to worry, a lot to try and fix, and tons that can be passed off as magic. Maybe being inactive will help when she finally does meet a female, Secondary Fool. Sounds like it will be an epic cat fight and she doesn't have energy to waste with hate. Stupid, shifting Arcana. "I just want to be nice to people."

Angel snorts. "Tough luck, kid."

Plus side, what are the chances she'll meet a woman with the Universe or World for a primary?

;;;

"Are you okay?" Akira asks sharp in her ear that night.

"Yes?" Yume tilts her head back to look at the phone for a second. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just had a bad feeling today," he sighs, annoyance turning into relief. "Nothing bad?"

"Nothing. I hung out with Hitoshi for most of it. He took me to a library, but I can't get a real library card until he becomes my permanent guardian."

Just like that, Akira relaxes audibly on his side of the phone. "Do you have books you want to read?"

"A whole page of them. I can always add more to the back if you want to suggest any…?"

There is a smile in his voice as Yume scribbles down his reply. She hums thoughtfully. Almost unbiddenly, the little girl wonders what her best friend's Arcana type would be. It leads her to wondering what all those around her would be as well. Good thing she can drop by the Library whenever she wants. Maybe she can even make a project out of spotting the arcana types in people.

Maybe, when she's not already stretched thin with real life.

A/N: So this pretty much came out in time. The story has been up for a year. Wow. Thank you everyone who's read it. It really means a lot to know people are enjoying it.

Thank you, kalmaegi, for your review! It's all slowly coming together. Yume's got a lot to learn, and a whole team to meet. It's coming up and I'm excited to write it! You're right, the second game does have its hints dropped last chapter. I really hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you again for your review!

Thank you, GlaresThatKill, for your review! Did not mean for this chapter to take so long. I hope the exposition wasn't too much, next chapter should be more plot-ish. Akira does count; back in chapter 21 was the start of their confident/social link. Which does cause some issues for a couple characters' planning. Thank you so much for your review, and I really hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Thank you, Avatar . NIX, for your review! The timelines is more of a P2 hint, but does tie into pretty much all the timeline shenanigans. Yume's screwed up a lot of plans for the people around her by accidently starting a confident/social link with Akira back in chapter 21. The aftermath has varying results for all involved. I really hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you again for your review!

Thank you, Mia, for your review! I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you again for your review, and I really hope you enjoyed the chapter!

I hope everyone has a great September