CHAPTER 9 – TWILIGHT ZONE

Monday, 4th April 2011 – Yasogami High School

It was the first day ofschool at Yasogami High. Minako walked to the building dressed in the school's signature uniform and a sewn-on pin indicating her belonging in a class of seniors. She had now completely recovered from her venture into her own Mind Palace, Tartarus, almost a month and a half ago, and no clues to any cause were found. The work of both the Shadow Operatives and the Kuzunoha Detective Agency was fruitless and stagnant. The police had left her alone ever since that visit by Detective Dojima and she was mostly just looking forward to encountering Shinjiro Aragaki once again. Elizabeth explained that she pulled a few strings via persuasion to award Minako's boyfriend a free vacation at the desired location.

The rumors regarding the midnight channel had died down, but had a resurgence lately as supposedly a short-haired woman showed up in the mysterious broadcast in recent days. Minako followed the broadcasts cautiously, but nothing had changed since it first appeared on screen during a rainy night a few days ago. The only new information she was able to piece together was that the midnight program was only visible in the area of the town of Inaba, and only on rainy nights. The next one was predicted to happen in a week and she had already made arrangements with Elizabeth, Tamaki and parts of the former SEES to observe the event in her room.

The shift of focus onto the next rumor, as well as her lengthy absence had taken off most of her newfound notoriety and on the way to the first day of school nobody had bothered her beyond the occasional look.

The school building was full of students, checking the classes they got assigned to and rapidly thinning the crowd once they discovered what information they were looking for. Minako however knew already where she had to go in advance. Class 3-A, (or rather "3-1", as she found out from asking a random person) led by Mr. Sato Hiroshi, on the third floor of the school next to the staircase.

The class was already half-full, with many of the places occupied by friends and old classmates staying together in sign of long-maintained bonds. Minako took a seat in the rear, by the window. Nobody bothered to approach the new girl or even sit near her, until the class had almost started. Minako felt saddened by her social isolation in the new setting, but knew it was for the best.

As she turned to look at a classmate who sat at the desk next to her, the teacher had entered the room. It was a middle aged man, wearing a grey sweater and black pants, with slight hair loss and a clean shaven face. The chatter around the classroom had ceased, and the teacher wrote down his name on the blackboard.

"My name is Hiroshi Sato. I will be your homeroom teacher and take over the senior year math classes from Mrs. Nakayama for this year." The teacher continued by listing some basic personal information, as Minako saw that the student who chose the seat next to her was familiar. A brunette with wavy hair and a large forehead wearing the same uniform as she did now. Despite the different clothing, she recalled her being a coworker of Yosuke Hanamura from JUNES. She had glanced back, but the look of recognition was not mutual.

Meanwhile, the teacher ended his monologue in a way that required attention from the SEES girl. "Now that we've got my introductions out of the way, I was requested to introduce someone to you." He glanced at the name-list, looking for the correct person. "Kotone Shiomi. Would you kindly come and introduce yourself?"

She got up and walked to stand right next to the teacher, who seemed older than she thought from up close. Minako turned to the class and saw only a few interested faces, not including the JUNES girl. "Hi there! As Sato-sensei just said, I'm Kotone Shiomi and I'm new here. I moved to Inaba to live with a relative a couple of months ago, and now I'm looking forward to spending the last year of high school with all of you in this nice town!"

The teacher was pleased with the introduction, and used it to follow to the next topic he wanted to talk about. "Thank you Kotone-san. As you just heard, it's your senior year, and that means that this year's exams are going to be especially important for all of you."

The class entered a familiar pattern, and soon the first period was over and class 3-1 was to get its first classes with the other teachers. During the break, JUNES girl Saki Konishi, whose name she now recalled, was talking to a boy with slightly bushier hair and thick eyeglasses. Having nothing to do beyond wasting time on her phone, and knowing nobody there, she observed the people around her.

As the boy noticed Minako glancing in their direction, he interrupted his small talk with Saki and spoke directly to the new student. "Hey, you're the new girl, right?" The answer was already known, but such questions have proven effective conversation starters a thousand times before.

"Yup. Kotone Shiomi. Nice to meet you. And you are… Suzuki-san?"

The boy laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Suzumi, actually. Takeo. But close enough!" He gestured towards his friend. "And you might already have talked to Saki?"

Minako was happy to have been approached, especially since she got a positive first impression of the boy. "I have, actually! At JUNES!" Saki's look turned from neutral to annoyed; it was an unexpected reaction. Minako didn't know how to react, but Takeo stepped in.

"Work is a bit of a sore subject for her, don't take it the wrong way." He turned to his friend. "Sorry about that."

Minako saw the need to reassure the girl and turn around the initial distaste the girl might have gotten from the interaction, even not knowing what the exact issue was. "Sorry, I didn't know that, Konishi-san. If you ever need someone to talk to about it, I can lend you my ear."

Saki's expression didn't change much at first. "I'm good… but thanks."

The awkward atmosphere between the two had cleared, and Takeo was fully acting like the extroverted boy he seemed to be during the first introduction. "How about we three go for a skewer after school? Kotone, have you had one yet?"

The Steak-Skewer had been a speciality of local restaurants and smaller eateries, which Minako didn't like much. However, she appreciated the gesture, an open hand invitation of friendship from the man. She was ready to accept, but Saki had shook her head at the idea.

"I can't today. Hanamura didn't give me the day off." Saki elaborated.

Minako recognized the surname as belonging to her coworker. She deduced it was unlikely that a man his age would be in charge of that, so it had to be either a cooincidence or a relative of his.

Takeo looked disappointed, and wanted to say something but was interrupted by the next hour's teacher walking into the room.

At the end of the first school day, Minako had gotten to know the teaching staff of the school. It ranged from the various kinds of no-nonsense types like Mr. Sato or Morooka to more eccentric ones. As she was getting ready to head back home, Suzumi Takeo approached her alone, Saki Konishi having already left.

"So how did you like our school?"

"It's alright. The view is pretty nice."

"The hills? Yeah, I guess so. There's a park up there too. You need to walk up a bunch of stairs, but you can see the whole town from up there."

"Neat. I'll make sure to check it out."

The boy got silent for a short while, and adjusted his glasses. "Say, I've been wondering: Do you play volleyball?"

Minako was taken aback by the question, understanding the possible implication. She didn't hesitate in deciding to act in ignorance, in case he had suspected anything.

"Volleyball? No, why? Are you recruitng for the club?"

"No, no. It's not that. You just remind me of a girl who's come here to play against us a couple of years ago." Takeo was close to discovering the truth, when a metaphorical spark in his eyes lit up to his satisfaction. "Ooh! Gekkoukan High! I remember now! It is you, you hung out with the captain and that tan girl! Huh, I didn't know you guys had a junior on the main team. You must have been pretty good."

Minako heard her whole constructed identity fall apart like a sandcastle being kicked by the local beach bully, but she discovered she didn't mind it that much. The consequences would probably be unpleasant, but the truth was unlikely to remain covered forever, and in truth she longed to contact some of her old friends that she lost permanently due to their lack of SEES-insider knowledge.

"And here I go asking you about the school, when you have already seen it. Well, that's…" the talkative boy felt his phone vibrate and looked at the display on the closed flip-phone. "Welp, it's my dad. I guess today wouldn't have worked out anyway, huh? Right. I have to go now, so see you tomorrow!"

Despite Minako's comforting doom prophecies, they simply failed to materialize. The enthusiastic boy didn't make any uncomfortable connections and instead was just pleased of solving a puzzle in his own mind. It could have meant many things, from her name only ringing alarm bells in the Iwatodai area and various bureaucratic databases, to his personal ignorance of the implications. Even the possibility that the people in Yasogami High weren't told that one of the people from the sport event in August 2009 was that girl was not unlikely. Seeing it pointless to dwell further upon the matter, she made her way home to eat something before she took the train down south to meet with Chidori and do some shopping together.

Monday, 11th April 2011 – Midnight – Minako's room

Minako, Elizabeth, Tamaki Uchida, Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada were looking at the TV screen inside of Minako's room with attention. The rain outside was falling lightly, as a woman on the screen set fire to a pile of vinyl records, CDs and cassettes while boasting about her superstardom. This kind of spectacle had not occurred before during the midnight broadcast to any of the present people's knowledge.

"This woman isn't well." The muscular man commented on what he saw on the screen, as Tamaki nodded in agreement.

"You said she wasn't acting like this yesterday, right?" The detective asked the host of the gathering.

"Yes. She stood still and was looking into the screen without doing anything. She was also in shadows, so you couldn't see her features so clearly."

Elizabeth and Mitsuru were quiet and deep in thought. Akihiko looked at his girlfriend and Tamaki reclined on the couch, with her arms crossed. Suddenly. Mitsuru opened her mouth to speak, and asked the people present a question. "Aki, have you seen this woman before?"

The man replied negatively, and Mitsuru sighed. "Then we have our first objective. Discovering who the woman on the screen was could help us understand more. Alongside that, we know this signal originates somewhere in this town and that it is of supernatural origin."

"All we know is that the broadcast first showed a white-haired woman. Then disappeared for a long time, only to show again this person. If the rumor of a mysterious channel has come true, we should keep an eye out in case other improbable events start happening. The return of Nyarlathotep must be prevented at any cost." Leaning back forward, Tamaki continued, hand placed on her chin: "This does not explain the significance of rain or why it is only happening here."

The broadcast was slowly fading away, as the rain had stopped falling and a light mist began to rise outside the uncovered window. Elizabeth stood up and walked up to the TV, attracting the group's attention. She put her hand on the screen, and pushed it forward. To the amazement of the other four, the screen began showing a ripple effect as if it were water and the hand went inside the device. Tamaki and Minako had stood up, as Mitsuru observed keenly what was happening. A few seconds later, Elizabeth's hand came out of the screen, covered in blood, various brusings and lacerations, which were healing at a fast rate.

None of them had noted any kind of injury on the woman before that, which only added to the questions.

"It is as I feared." Elizabeth spoke again. "Hostile forces have returned."

The four had looked at each other, all fired up with the determination to fight whatever threat was rising.

Monday, 12th April 2011 – Yasogami High School

It had been the second day of school, and Mr. Sato was finishing up explaining the exam schedule for the final year of high school, but Minako could not concentrate all day. Elizabeth had explained yesterday that what was shown on the television screen was a mind palace, similar to what she experienced herself, but it was manifesting itself in bizarre ways. The behavior shown by the woman indicated an abnormal state of distress, maybe even danger. The white-haired woman was puzzled by it materializing outside of one's consciousness and in such a public manner as a television broadcast. The duo had planned to meet outside of the school and head to a place where a larger TV would be available, to verify if it was possible to enter the woman's palace during daytime and without rainy weather. The fog outside was still present, but slowly fading, indicating the arrival of sunny weather.

It was then that police sirens were heard in the vicinity of the school, and an intercom announcement called all teachers to the teacher's lounge and all students to remain calm, but to vacate the school premises and head home.

Nobody had any idea what had happened, and Takeo Suzumi approached Minako to discuss it.

"Do you think those sirens from before could be related?"

Minako shook her head and responded with a simple "I don't know."

"These last weeks have been kinda weird. Those strange TV program rumors, the fox at the shrine, now whatever this is?" The boy chuckled and continued: "I may be in the film club, but I'm not sure I like it when life gets too cinematic. I hope Saki's okay."

Inrigued at both the mention of a film club and his worried expression at the mention of the absent classmate, Minako was about to reassure him until the door to the classroom slammed open, and the familiar sight of a peculiar blond girl appeared in the doorframe, attracting attention.

"Aigis?"

"Come with me, this is urgent."

To Takeo's surprise, Minako had accepted what was said and followed the strange girl without question, leaving him perplexed and curious about the reasons. He made plans to ask his new classmate about this, but for now he'd make sure to not get involved into anything troublesome.

The girls had reached the front gate, where they found Elizabeth in plain two-colored clothing waiting for them.

"Elizabeth, what's going on? Did you call Aigis?"

Instead of allowing her to answer, Aigis did that for her. "Kirijo-Sama thought it prudent to deploy me here after the events of yesterday evening. I'm glad to be working with you again."

Minako would be happy to have her standing there any other time, but was now too focused on what appeared to be an emergency. Indeed, Elizabeth's face, similarly to yesterday, had lost its usual playful expression and was now completely serious.

"There has been an unexpected obstacle in our quest. The danger the cards had predicted has been fulfilled. Mayumi Yamano has passed away. Found by the local guardsmen, her corpse up in the air, disrupting the shape of electric cables."

Minako knew such a turn of events was possible and had already learned at school that the person Elizabeth was talking about, was the one performing the bizarre spectacle on the midnight broadcast the night before. Being unable to do anything about this turn of events, she was still determined to follow through their plans from yesterday.

"Now it's become even more important to investigate. Whatever happened, we have to prevent it from happening at the source."

Aigis agreed, and Elizabeth warned that it might prove more challenging than they were prepared for, but expressed her support. The trio left, as a black-eyed student wearing an Okina-City school uniform had approached the gates to wait for his beloved target of affection.

Monday, 12th April 2011 – JUNES Electronics Department

The Inaba city mall was still open, but had a very small amount of clients inside. The reveal of a murder with an unknown perpetrator made locals even far away from the event rethink their outdoors plans. Minako had gotten harassed by a police officer for not heading home, until Elizabeth intervened by showing her Kuzunoha Detective Agency employee badge. It was not a real law enforcement agency, but was accepted as such surprisingly often.

The electronics store was understaffed and only attended by a bored cashier, as neither Hanamura Yosuke nor Saki were present, so the trio walked up to the largest TV on the display. Elizabeth stretched out her hand and felt that the surface still had a rippling effect like last night, but inserting the hand fully didn't result in any injuries. Neither did a daring attempt at looking inside. Ensuring it was safe, the former SEES leader and Aigis attempted the same with their hands, to an equal result. Finally, Elizabeth did what they set out to do and dived into the TV. Minako was glad there were no security cameras nor people around, for the footage would be bizarre to say the least.

Aigis and Minako exchanged a final silent look, and followed her inside.

What all of them saw was a white, rectangular and downward tunnel leading to a hard fall into a chamber filled with fog. As Minako and Aigis recovered, they saw Elizabeth already on her feet, and looking at something in front of her.

"It is as I thought. A sea of fog, once again."

Aigis had gotten up and expressed her own thoughts on the situation. "Strange. My eyes are unable to clear the visual distortion despite the enhanced systems. We must be vigilant."

Minako agreed, and found herself unarmed, but knew that she could rely on her Persona.

They walked around the strange room, finding a side entrance to what appeared to be a bedroom, but could only be described as a crime scene. Posters of some celebrity on the wall, all torn up, and a red rope hanging from the ceiling, just above a wooden chair. Most worryingly, blood was all over the walls.

"These seem to be the remains of the victim's palace. Odd that it hasn't collapsed completely." Elizabeth was the first to say a word about their surroundings.

Aigis took over, looking at the tattered posters. "This is Misuzu Hiragi. A musician of the Enka genre. Wife to Taro Namatame, who has recently been involved in a scandal. He has been accused of what is known as adultery. This woman was the other person involved."

Minako meanwhile examined the noose, as Aigis heard a faint noise, prompting her to raise her weapons. "Do you think the shadow committed suicide? Is that even possible?" Minako asked Elizabeth.

"It is a thing that can happen when the distortions are too severe, but I don't believe this is the case here. The shadow of Mayumi Yamano was killed by something else." Elizabeth was fully certain of her explanation, which worried Minako. She had readied her persona just as Aigis her guns, as the android kept looking at the fog just outside the room.

It was then that Elizabeth has spotted a strange figure lurking among them, but in contrast to the other two did not seem alarmed.

When the figure had approached close enough to be seen, Aigis was in full battle readiness.

"TARGET SPOTTED!" She fired multiple shots at the figure, missing all of them due to the low visibility, to which it replied with a paniced yet comical shriek.

Minako lowered her guard and shouted to Aigis: "Wait! Stop!" And the android followed suit.

"That wasn't beary nice!" The figure turned out to be a bizarre creature shaped in the form of what may best be described as a theme park mascot. Blue and light-skin colored fur, a red outfit with a white stripe on it and freakishly large eyes and mouth, which were actually moving like a living being's and making exaggerated, almost ridiculous angry faces at them.

"What is that?" Minako looked in confusion at the bizarre creature. In all the evenings in Tartarus, never had she or the rest of SEES encountered anything similar. The closest thing being Koromaru, which was a dog capable of basic communication through its persona powers. But the thing cowering in front of them was more like a cartoon character. She thought that it surely couldn't have been a shadow, for it was not hostile. Yet it was Aigis to not drop her guard, and point her guns at it.

"I detect danger."

Minako was unsure what to do, except wait until one of her companions or the being broke the status quo in some way. Indeed, it was Elizabeth that spoke up, addressing the bear directly.

"Dweller of this realm, we did not wish to intrude. We are beary sorry. Our goal was to investigate the disappearance of a human from our side. We would appreciate any assistance you could give us."

The bear's attitude changed by 180 degrees upon seeing Elizabeth with his large eyes.

"Oooh, a pretty lady!" Elizabeth raised her hand, glowing with power, which lead to the creature looking panicked and returning to the topic. "I-I-I... can't tell you much. I'm the only one who lives here, and I did not meet another human before today. ...I smelled something beary strong not far from here recently. Was this your human friend?"

"Only one? Are you not a shadow?" Aigis enquired, her readiness still not dropping.

"Yippee! Another lady friend! I'm a very lucky bear today!" the bear, remembering the threat from Elizabeth composed itself and replied more seriously. "I'm not like the shadows. The shadows are scary. They hide in the fog, but when it's not here, they come out and hunt. Then I must hide..."

The creature was dejected, and Minako was convinced it meant them no harm.

"Don't worry. We're not like the shadows. We mean you no harm."

"I'm beary happy to hear that, but you still have to leave. This place, it's dangerous for you."

The creature summoned three televisions on top of each other, and started to push them onto the devices. At his surprising strength, Aigis fell over and looked as if she were severely weakened.

"Wait, stop!" The bear refused to do so, until Minako called out Eurydice, and felt dizzy as well.

"Your friend is gonna be fine. I warned you this is a dangerous place. Leave and do not return, it's for your safety!" Elizabeth did not resist, and fell backwards into the screen, followed by Minako who was getting too weak and a few seconds later, Aigis who got thrown in after them.

The three woke up on the floor in front of the large TV in the still empty Junes Electronics store. Aigis was the first to get up and help the other two up, now back at full strength. "I'm sorry. I have failed. The fog has completely assaulted all my systems, rendering me inoperable. Should we attempt this again, we should attack the entity at sight."

Minako disagreed, now also back to full strength beyond the back pain from the impact of getting thrown on the floor. "No. It's not… the bear"

"I agree. It was the fog that dulled our senses. I managed to resist it, but extended voyages inside the Television-World might prove even lethal." Elizabeth added to the other two's comments, as she adjusted her hair. "The fog was very potent compared to the last time. Was the tartarus palace not in this TV world, or is the enemy getting stronger? Both possibilities have worrying conclusions."

Minako suddenly felt tired, and wanted to call it a day, but her friend's observations made her attention turn to that topic. "Eliza-Chan, how did you even reach me? ...I don't even remember how I ended up there."

"A magic ritual, I'm afraid. I was successfully able to appear at the entrance of your Tartarus only because I knew you well and what to look for. Without that..." Elizabeth opted to keep the explanation of the magical process simple, and both of her companions saw that she looked unusually weary as well. "My goodness. I do not feel too well. I fear we have no choice but to rest today."

The other two agreed, and the whole group walked their separate ways upon reaching the station square, just outside of the mall.