Volume 7

The nine kids moved along to Mr. Top's cart. It was bigger than it had seemed; from the front, it looked like it was just a small wooden box with a performance stage attached to it. But, when they crept to the rear, they noticed that it extended out far enough to sufficiently house at least one room. They knocked once on the door and entered it after the door slowly fell open.

The room inside was surprisingly empty, except for a few wardrobes, a vanity desk with an oval mirror, several hats, and the plethora of tricks that Mr. Top had used on stage-including Magic the Rabbit and the levitating box. No other humans or creatures were present.

Yosuke went over to the box, poking it with his finger. It wiggled in the air. He checked its surface thoroughly.

"There's no strings," he stated. "I don't know how its staying up."

"Magnets, maybe?" Chie suggested, waving her arms over the floor beneath the box. Everyone stared thoughtfully at the purple crate, racking their brains to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Finally, Yosuke said, "We should test it to see if we can summon that Shadow again."

"No way!" Chie hollered. "That's too crazy! Plus, we don't have our Personas to back us up out here!"

"I'll get inside it," Aila offered. Her friends stared at her.

"It's too dangerous," Naoto stated, putting a hand on her friend's arm. "You're brave to volunteer, but we don't know enough about the situation to make a decision so quickly."

"We need to investigate this now," Aila insisted. She turned to Narukami. "Yuu, your Nanako was almost stuck inside this thing. What if he tries to put someone else's family in that box and something goes wrong with the Shadow? At least if I go in, I have an idea of what to expect. Let me try, Yuu…please."

Narukami looked at her silently for a few minutes, then at last relented. "Okay. Just be careful."

Aila stepped into the box with his help, then Yosuke and Kanji uncertainly twirled the crate three times.

When they opened it, Aila was gone.

"It worked…" Chie whispered. Yosuke felt a brief, but powerful panic swirl over his body.

"Spin it again," Yukiko urged.

One…two….

Rise suddenly gasped. "Open it! Open the box! Hurry!" She yelled. Kanji was on it instantly, throwing open the door. A black muck covered the entire inside, bubbling dangerously as it dropped over the box's edges.

As if it saw them, the black muck began to retreat and fade. Aila's body was limp and unconscious as she swayed in place. When she fell out of it, Kanji was the first to catch her. He held her gently, but his eyes were wide with worry. Yosuke hurried over to her and grabbed her wrist.

"Aila!" He said. The girl opened her eyes slowly, giving him a small smile.

"Hi," she greeted with a loopy tone to her voice.

"Are you ok?" Kanji asked her. She looked up at him from his arms, slowly regaining her thoughts.

"Oh," she muttered as she remembered what'd happened. "Oh!" She sat up a bit in Kanji's grasp. "I saw something this time! In the darkness, there was…something…. I think it was a bedroom with a swirling floor and a hazy violet fog…" She sighed. "That's all I can remember before waking up back in the box."

"Another room?" Naoto mumbled, putting a hand to her chin. "Perhaps that means that this box is a transporter of some sort?"

"Maybe it takes people to another world," Narukami muttered. Yukiko looked over at Rise.

"How did you know to stop the box?" She asked the red-head. Rise put a hand to her heart.

"I…I'm not sure. Something just felt wrong," she said.

Aila looked up at Kanji thoughtfully. "Um…Kanji?"

"Yeah?" He muttered.

"You can put me down now."

A light flush came over his cheeks and he swiftly dropped Aila on her feet. "S-sorry!"

"Why, what lovely fans!" Someone called to them. Everyone spun around and tensed up at the sight of Mr. Top. His eyes seemed to be less energetic and more tight. His lips held a smile, but the rest of his countenance held a very annoyed aura. "Sneaking into my cart to get an autograph?"

His black eyes found Aila and Yosuke pushed her slightly behind him, taking her hand in his. She held it firmly

"We were just curious about something," Naoto cut in, drawing the magician's attention to her. "That trick you did with this box was amazing. How did you summon such a terrifying creature?" Mr. Top gave her a dark smile.

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"It's a very talented trick," Naoto pressed. "Surely, you got the idea from someone very wise and skilled." Mr. Top laughed.

"I created it myself, dear. No one has ever been able to replicate it.

"Fascinating. Then why aren't you traveling worldwide? Surely, an act like yours has been offered the chance."

Top narrowed his eyes. "You're quite the little interrogator, detective."

"Not at all. I'm merely an interested observer."

"Hmph. Well, the answer to your question is simply that Inaba has a very special place in my old, tired heart." He looked over at Aila. "My dear, I must deeply apologize for startling you as I did. I was actually hoping that I'd get to see you again. I want to give you something to make up for the scare I gave you…" He went over to the small white rabbit, picking up the cage and holding it out to the brunette. "Please, take this poor creature and give him a better home that I have."

Before being subtly shooed out of the cart, Aila had a rabbit shoved into her hand. When they were outside, she stared down at it for a few minutes.

"Huh…" She muttered. Then, despite everything else, she gained a small smile and a light blush. "He's pretty cute…" Magic wiggled is tiny pink nose at her.

The Investigation Team felt that, with no other leads to go off of, it was time to go home.