AN:/ This Chapter is real dialogue heavy, so apologies in advance. If you have any ideas you want to toss my way, or any reviews, the more the better. I will almost always respond to you about anything sent about this fic. The more details in the reviews, the more I can work on involving those ideas.

As a reminder: "Regular Speaking/ Text on an Email" Yu's thoughts Persona/Deity "Velvet Attendant" "Phone Communication" "SPOILERS/SOCIAL LINK VOICE"

As always,

TheFallenAlphaAngel

*April 17th, Sunday, After School*

Do it. Yu looked unsure.

I dunno. I mean, what if- The Fool was got off by his Persona.

You'll be fine. Just do it. You need this.

You're right. I need this. But what about them? Do they need this? Aren't they trying to find someone? If Izanagi was annoyed at his Wild Card, he didn't show it.

You're part of the Investigation Team, are you not?

Yeah, but I'm not a detective.

But you know someone who is. Yu's eyes widened slightly.

But not yet. She did teach me some tricks though. I'll do it. Yu pressed a button.

"Hello?"

"Hello. I'm sorry to bother you, are you busy Farron-san?"

"I got some free time. What's up, kid?"

"I need some... advice."

"About what?" Claire asked calmly.

"Well I guess it's not really advice… More like I need help. But since you don't really know me, I'm also gonna offer to help you. To find your Sister, Serah you said it was?" Yu offered in exchange to listening to him for a bit.

"You didn't need to offer to help but I appreciate it all the same. Let's start with you first. What do you need help with?" The Fool gulped.

"I don't really have anyone to talk to this about, so once again, I'm sorry to bother you. You seem to know how to be an adult. What exactly is it like? To not be a minor?"

There was silence for a bit, and before Yu could apologize again, Claire spoke up.

"Let me tell you a Story. It's about… a friend of mine. When she was around your age, maybe a bit younger, her parents died. So once she graduated High School, she joined the Military to make sure her little sister would be able to live comfortably. So after a few years everything was fine. But the friend, she had to grow up quickly for her sister. She couldn't do anything for her anymore, just for her sister. On the outside she was fine. but on the inside she was just a child, wanting nothing but someone to help her. I guess the moral is, not matter what you do in life, things aren't always going to go your way. Maybe your parents will one day cease to exist, maybe they just stop paying attention to you. Either way, you're going to have to stand on your own two feet. You can get help from friends, and other assistance, but coming down to it, your success is all on you. But you have to keep moving forward. As long as you have a goal, you can keep moving. It's alright to have memories to look back on but you have to keep your eyes front. The second they look back, you stop moving, and get crushed by all the negative instead of all the good things that happened in the past." Claire paused for a minute, before she sounded a little concerned. "... Did that make sense?"

"Yeah, I think it made perfect sense. In fact I think it was exactly what I needed. Thanks Farron-san. Alright so now, I'll try and help you out as promised. Should we meet up by the River so we can go over the case?"

"You weren't listening earlier were you? You don't need to help me out." Yu sighed.

"I'll be by the Samegawa for the rest of the day. I hope to see you there." Before Claire could say anything else Yu hung up and started making his way to the Riverbed. It was a nice and peaceful walk, with the trees gently rustling as the wind went through them, and the occasional bird chirping. With the recent talk with Claire, and the feeling of peace that radiated through him, The Fool felt more in unison with the Universe. Suddenly time ceased to flow.

"Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... Thy bond will keep the Universe balanced and Truth ever easier to grasp… Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Universe Arcana."

And time resumed and Yu was surprised. Usually these bonds happen around other people and revolve around them. But this one, Yu was alone and the only one around him was… nothing. Just nature and quiet. Maybe as my understanding of life grows, so will the Social Link. Huh. That's interesting.

Yu sat on the pavilion next to the Riverbed and just sat there for a while, enjoying the breeze. He leaned his head back and drooped his eyes shut. "It's a nice day today, considering that it was pouring yesterday. Feels great out here."

"I agree with you." came a voice behind him. His eyes shot open and looked for the voice. With a turn, he saw Claire, sitting on the bench near him, a small polite smile on her face. "I decided to take you up on your offer. What can you do to help, detective?"

"I'm no detective. I know a few things, but not a whole lot. In fact it may be better in the long run to get a detective. But first things first, I'll need information about her. Go ahead and talk about her."

"I see. Well her name is Serah. She maybe either as old as you are a bit younger. She's mature, wise for her age, deeply caring. Serah is always positive too, realistic but positive. She's also determined like you wouldn't believe. We used to live near a beach, but she's as pale as I am. We look the same, except for her hair style and height. Serah always wanted to be a teacher too, even talked about going to university. Her favorite subject was History too. She…" Her expression changed to one mixed of amusement and annoyance. "She has a fiance too. His name was Snow. He's easy-going, passionate, and only slightly unreliable. Hotheaded, fearless, almost as optimistic as Serah. I was trying to find him too, but couldn't seem to find him either."

Yu thought for a moment. "Well, if we find one of them we will find the other. Eventually. So with that information, it's most likely that Serah is either attending school here, or could potentially be somewhere with online studies. We also can't rule out that she's with Snow either."

"That's also true. Maybe… no, nevermind, I shouldn't bother him about it." Claire began then almost immediately discarded her idea. Yu was going to ask but just pushed it a side.

"So I heard that there's supposed to be this up and coming detective, and they could definitely help you out. At least I think. Have you heard of Naoto Shirogane?"

"The Detective Prince? You think he could help out?" A nod from the Fool let her consider the thought.

"In the meantime, we will look for them on our own. Once we get Shirogane-san to help, we should be able to find out where they could have gone."

Soon enough, the two went their separate ways, both determined to find out where Claire's Sister and her Fiance could be. Before Yu went back home however, he had a stop to make in the Shopping District.

After a few minutes, The Fool was inside the Velvet Room, with three of the residents there.

"Hello again, Margaret, Hope, Marie. It's nice to see you again."

Margaret gave him a smile and nodded, Marie looked up from a sheet of paper to acknowledge him, and Hope gave him a wave.

"Hello! I was wondering Yu, would it be okay if we talked for a bit? About uh… certain things?"

"Guy talk?" He got a nod from Hope. "Margaret? Is he okay to leave the Velvet Room?"

"Both Hope and Marie are able to leave the Velvet Room, but only if you escort them. Marie however, can not be outside the Room on Rainy Days. That restriction is for everyone's safety."

"I'll go ahead and pass on this trip outside. I gotta finish some stuff. You both go have your Guy talk or whatever." Maire said after a look in her direction by Yu. With a shrug, Yu left the Room with Hope in Tow.

"So… What's up?"

"I remembered something… about my past." That's why Hope seemed to want to get away from Marie and Margaret. Maybe whatever it is about the past is pretty private.

"I won't judge you for it. What did you remember?"

"I used to have someone close to me. I think it was a Woman. And only two other words I can remember having some kind of significance. 'Light' and 'Saviour'. I keep getting these flashes of her and some of them aren't exactly… good for other people to see? Catch my drift? And I don't exactly have a whole lot of privacy in the Room. I'd like to try to be strong, as much as I can for the other three, especially Igor as he took me in you know? So I needed someone to vent too. It's not exactly easy seeing absolute darkness and despair as well as only hearing a woman calling out your name in agony." Yu seemed taken aback. He assumed that by the way the conversation was going was that he needed some 'alone time' away from the beautiful women in the Velvet Room. But this? He just needed to be able to mourn without having the others think lesser of him. Shit…

"Hope… From what I know of loss, it's going to be hard to be able to get over it. You'll need a way to work through your grief. The main problem seems to be, you don't know enough about this 'Light' or 'Saviour' to properly mourn. So I'll tell you what, I'll do everything I can to stop by everyday and we can try to lesser this burden you're feeling. I might not be the best for this situation, as I haven't been able to properly grieve over my own loss of all of my old friends, but I'll have to do, as Marie is in a similar boat as you and… Margaret is still an enigma. Same with Igor too." Yu ran his hand through his own silver hair. "So Hope, whenever you need me, let me know okay? I'm here for you just like you're here for me." Yu put out his hand and was surprised once more where instead of a handshake, he was hugged by the now sobbing boy. The Fool enveloped the Amnesiac in an embrace.

Time seemed to stop around the two boys. Hope suppressed a sob, and looked around at the darkened area, and Yu tensed for a second. "W-what's happening Yu? Why'd it get dark? What is that noise?" It took a Yu a moment but he found the noise Hope was talking about. The sound was a drum beat, and it was surrounding the two. A drum beat he's heard a few times before.

"Uh-oh…" And before anything else could be said, there was a loud shattering sound, followed by a loud cannon blast. That… is new.

"Thou art I…" Shit.

"And I am thou…" How am I supposed to explain this to Margaret?

"Thou hast established a new bond…" Another new bond? I've seen all of them before, the only one that was new this time was the Universe.

"Thy bond will keep the Universe balanced and the Truth ever easier to grasp, and Humanities' Hope growing strong… Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana."...What?

Hope's eyes widened, then his hands shot up into his hair, mouth wide as if he was screaming but no sound came out. Yu gently picked up the Amnesiac and pulled him into the Velvet Room. Once the door was shut, it seemed as though Hope finally found his voice, barely able keep in his screaming. Margaret quickly went into action, moving over to the Amnesiac, gently pushing Yu away from Hope and casting several healing spells and status ailment healers. All of them seemed to not do anything and this was the first time Yu could ever see Margaret looked frazzled. "Dormina!" and the sleep spell seemed to work, as almost immediately after the spell was cast, Hope fell over asleep. In a few moments, Hope was lying asleep where he always sat, Margaret was back at her spot on the side of the limo, and Marie looked just as confused as Yu.

"What just happened?" Marie asked, confused as to why her fellow Amnesiac was now asleep next to her.

"That's what I would like to know. Yu? What happened before you came in?"

Yu sat in his usual spot, and started to inform the two of them. "We bonded and made the Fool Social Link. I think… he was remembering. In my Social Link with Yosuke, he gained some memories, but I think it was just a few experiences using his Persona. He could write it off as a daydream, but other than that Social Link, nothing else could give me any information as to what could be happening to Hope."

"We won't know until he wakes up on his own."

"So you can make people remember things? Work your magic on me would you?" Marie tried to joke to lighten the mood.

"I don't think I can just snap my fingers and it happen. But I'll try my best to help you out. Did you want to try today?" He was surprised by her head shake.

"I'll pass, gonna try and keep an eye out for Hope. We'll let you know when he's conscious."

They said their good-byes, and almost as soon as Yu walked out of the Velvet Room, his phone vibrated. It was an email from Chie.

"Yukiko's okay, wnts to tlk about case. Jns"

Today just seems to be full of surprises. First, I get a new Social Link. Then, I get a Different Social Link than last year. Now, Yukiko is fully healed and rested in a day instead of being in bed for a week or so. What's next? Yu thought to himself as he made his way to Junes to meet with the others.