The only thing she was able to hear was herself, sobbing in that dark room. All around her were bones with some flesh still hanging from it but what really had Hitomo scared was the person what was not too far, munching some of the flesh that was still on those bones.

This stranger was wearing the same uniform as the girl but what was truly unsettling was that this person was no other than Hitomo herself, or rather an alternate version of herself whose eyes were bright yellow and with a wicked smile that was usually covered by a piece of meat ¨You should eat some, spending time here gets you hungry sometimes¨ It was pretty much a clone, not only did it replicate the body she also copied the voice ¨Why don't you just give in? Senpai won't come to save you¨

¨No… I know he will… I'm sure of it¨ The missing student was hiding her face between her legs, trying to not let the fake Hitomo see the tears ¨Senpai is probably on his way here along with Tetsuya-kun¨ She wasn't hopeless but there was a tiny part of her that made her believe that no one was coming. The sound of something hitting against metal startled her, it was a bone that was thrown at one of the bars of her cell, she had no way of escaping and even if she tried the fake one might attack her ¨What do you want from me? Who are you?!¨

¨Must I repeat it all over again? ¨ A sigh came from the yellow-eyed as she stood up and walked toward the cage ¨I am you, or rather the part of you that you don't accept. The part that has accepted that redemption is no longer possible and decided to move on a different path¨ She leaned forward to grab one of the bones, it still had some flesh and much like an animal she devoured it ¨And as to what do I want from you? Well, there can be only one Wakamura Hitomo so I might as well take that spot¨

¨You want to replace me? ¨ The real one was looking at the other one in fear, she was trying to back away, only to find herself with the bars behind her ¨No… no I will never accept that¨ But the only response she got was that wicked smile in combination with those amber glowing eyes turned the creature of the labyrinth into a nightmare ¨I will never accept you! ¨

…

¨We've been running for almost two hours, are we getting any closer? ¨

¨The labyrinth is changing as we go, we are definitely getting close to where your friend is¨ The soul saw two more shadows spawning in front of the group ¨Up ahead, enemies! ¨

¨I got it¨ Tetsuya opened his free hand and the summoning orb appeared just to get shattered second later ¨Jack O' Lantern, weaken them! ¨ The Fool ordered and the mysterious Halloween mage appeared, shaking its lantern and casting a curse over the two shadows.

¨Now's my turn! ¨ Roka held his sledgehammer and did a heavy swing at one of their enemies, crushing it making it disappear instantly. With the momentum the Chariot kept running down the hallway, attracting the attention of the lone shadow which didn't see Tetsuya coming from behind and slashing it.

With the Shadows gone the students turned around a corner to find themselves in front of a giant ornate door, red as the walls and the floor. No keyhole in sight and by the looks of it impossible to move with just sheer human strength.

¨Don't you have any other Persona with you that can help us move the door? ¨ The other guy took the sledgehammer behind his neck and allowed his hand from there.

¨Only two, we would need something big or strong. Destroying it would take a lot of time¨

¨It's not impossible to open…¨ The soul got closer to inspect the design and felt some presence on the other side ¨There is no doubt, your friend must be past this door¨ A quick glance at the two students gave the sphere an idea ¨You! ¨ It flew towards Roka ¨Open the door, you are the only one who can do it¨

¨Wait, why me? ¨

¨Because your Persona controls the wind¨

¨Oh… oh right yeah. Stay back, this may not work at all¨ After those words both the soul and Tetsuya stood behind Roka; he made the orb appear in his hand and in a wild fashion he threw it up in the sky just to hit it with the sledgehammer as if he was playing baseball.

¨Achilles, take the door down with your wind¨ The order was given and the Greek warrior used it's spear to channel the power of the wind, then with a thrust at the door a small hurricane was summoned and the door didn't seem to budge ¨Come on… we can't fail now… we have to do this…¨ The strength of the hurricane increased up to the point the hinges were pretty much destroyed and caused the door to fall.

On the other side they found two things, one of them Hitomo, the other was a strange creature that was dragging the student. This monster was a centaur with the upper part being Hitomo but with the glowing yellow eyes, however this one also had four arms, truly a terrifying sight.

¨W-what is that?!¨ Roka focused on the monster but then looked down and saw the young girl ¨HITOMO-CHAN! ¨

¨SENPAI! ¨

¨It seems that there were others coming¨ The centaur turned to face the newcomers and threw the real Hitomo to the side, leaving her out of the fight ¨You will soon find out that this labyrinth will be your tomb! ¨ The fake one had echo in its voice, almost demonic that did nothing but to inflict fear into the Persona users.

¨Get ready, it's going to attack us¨ And thus the monster charged against the two students who were able to dodge, or so they thought at first since they were grabbed by an arm at each side, getting dragged along the centaur's charge ¨Let go off me!¨ Roka was trying to swing with his hammer but the erratic movements from the arms didn't allow him to swing properly, on the other hand Tetsuya was able to do stab at the legs which forced the fake Hitomo to release him as it kept dragging his friend.

¨Boss! ¨ The soul got closer to the Fool who was trying to stand up ¨Are you okay? ¨

¨Y-yeah… how are we going to defeat that thing? ¨ Aside from all the ruckus this enemy was doing, another voice was heard and Tetsuya looked to the side, seeing Hitomo who was also trying to get back on her feet, although with no success ¨Hitomo-chan! ¨ He ran towards the missing girl to check on her ¨Are you alright? ¨

¨I… what is that? ¨ The three of them looked at the centaur who was still dragging Roka around ¨It… it tried to eat me¨

¨I don't know, and I don't know why it looks like you either¨

¨That thing is not me! ¨ Hitomo yelled, not recognizing the monster in the room.

¨Soul, stay here and protect Hitomo-chan¨ The student held the grip on the sword tighter and tried to follow the centaur in hopes of stopping its charge and saving Roka.

With those two busy, the soul and the girl were alone, watching the scene unfold, although the latter started crying and the spirit noticed it ¨Why are you crying? ¨

¨That thing… that thing is not me, it is just a monster using my face¨

¨That is where you are wrong¨ Those words surprised the student who still had tears running down her cheeks ¨Even though it uses your face and you may not like it, that thing is you, or rather the part of you that you don't accept¨

¨That thing said the same but-¨

¨But? ¨ The soul interrupted ¨You have your thoughts, your ideals and even hopes and dreams but deep inside you also know some of those are not possible but decide to eliminate or rather ignore them. What you are seeing there is a Shadow version of yourself¨

¨My… Shadow…¨

¨As long as you don't accept that other part of you it will keep coming back and stronger. The boss and his friend might be able to defeat it now but next time it might appear again and again and again. You are truly the only one who can defeat that thing¨ This left Hitomo thinking, even though the boys were the ones with the power to defeat the fake one there was no doubt that what the orb said made sense, after all that Shadow was the part that Hitomo did not accept about herself.

A loud thud was heard and the creature was laying down, tired and injured. Roka was dizzy from the `trip´ and Tetsuya stood in front of the monster, ready to strike it down.

¨Strike me down and I will come back stronger than ever¨ The Fool frowned and lifted his sword for one last strike but…

¨No! ¨ Hitomo stood up and ran towards Tetsuya, holding his arm so he wouldn't kill the Shadow ¨Don't, it won't solve anything… it is my battle after all¨ The student looked at the downed centaur, the fake Hitomo looking back at the real one ¨Maybe I was wrong, not accepting you was pretty much running away from the truth. While I wanted to stay positive that I was going to get rescue I also needed to accept that the other option could happen. Redemption… that's what you said¨ The redhead nodded to her own words ¨I don't want to stray away from that, I will accept the chances of failure but I will not let it happen! ¨

¨So you accept it…¨ The Shadow replied and once again Hitomo nodded ¨Very well, let us form the contract…¨

¨My redemption will be-¨ The student was cut off mid-sentence as she felt a horrible pain, a headache that she never felt before and made her kneel. It was like someone was stabbing her brain repeatedly ¨What… is this?!¨

¨You have accepted the other part of you in hopes of achieving redemption. I am thou, thou art I. I lend you my strength, use it wisely. ¨ The creature started to vanish and an orb appeared in front of Hitomo, it was light yellow and the moment she touched it the sphere disappeared.

¨Thanks… Hippolyta¨ With the help of Tetsuya she was able to stand back up only to look to her left and see the other person in the room. A smile was starting to form as she ran towards him ¨Senpai! ¨

¨Hi-Hitomo-chan! ¨ They hugged, she was crying and Roka tried to contain himself.

From far away Tetsuya and the soul were looking at the two of them, they succeeded on their mission and gained a possible new ally ¨So that thing… was that Hitomo too? ¨

¨It was her Shadow, the part of her that she did not accept. It became strong enough to be a powerful enemy and even threaten her life¨

¨Does that mean that Roka faced a Shadow as well? ¨

¨Not necessarily, accepting oneself is a key factor. Should he deny back then… well chances are it would be possible for a Shadow version of himself to appear in that case¨ The soul turned to look at the Fool ¨Even you could've faced a Shadow of you¨ Tetsuya's ears were ringing at that point, his knees felt weak and the body was not able to go on any further ¨Boss? ¨ The Fool closed his eyes and felt him falling to the ground ¨Boss! ¨

…

His body hit against something and this made him wake up, he was still drowsy and looked all around but to his surprise he wasn't in the labyrinth, it was that mysterious blue bar that he kept returning in his dreams.

¨W-what? How did I get here? ¨

¨Welcome back, Fool¨ Silvia greeted him. In the counter there were many things: a book, a letter with a key and an empty glass ¨I am afraid my master is not available this time but I will be glad to be of assistance today¨ Tetsuya looked down at the items but something caught his attention. Behind him there was something different from his last visit, one of the shadows that was playing pool against another shadow was finally revealed, it was Roka who was talking to the other player whose identity was still a mystery. However, his friend did not notice the presence of the dark haired.

¨I thought I was the only one with access to this place¨

¨That is true, however those who you form a bond with will appear in the Velvet Room. Call it a progress of your path, pay no attention to them for I have something more important to you¨ She opened the book, most of the pages were blank ¨This is the Persona Compendium, throughout your journey you will find many Personas as you've already experienced. If you require I am able to summon those that you found, for a price¨

¨Interesting¨ Tetsuya grabbed the book and went through the different pages, only the first ones were filled with information.

¨On that topic¨ Silvia grabbed the glass that was to the side ¨The Velvet Room offers a service to those who get access to it. The ability to fuse Personas and to destroy them¨ The way she said destroy sounded differently, almost sultry in its tone ¨Once again for the right price I can help you with that, new combinations of Personas will help you progress further as you encounter more dangerous enemies¨ From behind her she grabbed one of the bottles and poured the dark red liquid in the glass.

¨I see¨ He then picked up the key and the letter, both had the seal of the Velvet Room ¨What are these for then? ¨

¨The letter is our invitation to you, as you are now a member of this club. From now on if you need our services you can find us in many places, using the key to enter in this establishment¨

¨How do I know where to find you? ¨

¨You will know when you see it, Fool¨ The assistant gave the full glass to Tetsuya ¨To this new partnership¨

I am thou, thou art I… Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall open a path and break the chains from the past.

With the birth of the High Priestess Persona, you acquired new power that will lead to redemption.

We got to the part of the story where the Velvet Room mechanics appear lol. With this a new Persona user joins the team but first they'll have to drag Tetsuya out of the labyrinth.

Aside from that there won't be much battle next episode, probably not a single one but pretty much the end of the day.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I also hope you could answer me this: What would be a good song for a battle theme?

As we quesiton that I bid farewell but not before posting this: discorddotgg / 7ZUptrJ (of course the dot should be replaced with a . )

Now yes, this was Tourvelix and as I leave:

See you in the next chapter ;)