AN: Sorry it's taken me a while to finish this chapter. It's been a busy semester at school this year and most of the free time I do have goes to sleeping. With any luck my next semester will leave me with more free time for writing.

Chapter 3: Stained Glass

I hurriedly backed away from the kids in front of me. I have never met a god who enjoys being summoned, and I've never met a god who I enjoyed not enjoying things. Except once, and he really pissed me off.

I built up energy for a shield before I spoke. "What the hell did you just do?"

All at once the figures behind the kids disappeared. Yu walked forward smiling. "You said you wanted to see what a Persona was."

"Gods?! You're telling me that you've been able to summon gods for years?"

Yu shrugged noncommittally. "Sort of. It's a little hard to explain, but I don't think that they're the actual gods. You'd have to ask the first team if you want to know more."

"You mean the ones who sealed the Golden Gate? SEES?"

Yu nodded. "Yeah, but if you want to ask anything else we should step outside. Summoning Personas in this world is exhausting, and I don't think the others are going to be able to stay awake much longer."

I glanced around and saw that the other kids were barely standing. I stood up and followed him out the back door. We stopped outside and looked at the moon reflected on the lake. We stood there in silence for a few minutes.

I realized something was off. Most of the time, once I started working a case this big, I spent the entire time looking for answers. I had to run around the whole town, if not the country, tracking down a criminal or a fairy or a witness. I rarely had time to stop and think things through until it was down to the wire.

And yet, not only was the only person who could really answer any questions I had right here, but I didn't have to work for any of it. I didn't have to press him for answers; he'd give them willingly and honestly. It was the kind of person he was.

You learn a lot from a soul gaze.

His mind was a stained glass window, and a collage, thousands of thousands of thousands of images so tiny and so immense at the same time, each working together to form a single image.

Each image was a story, some were his. Him cooking, him working at a hospital, acting in a play, playing basketball, helping at a daycare, gardening in a patch outside his house. In these, and many others, he was with someone in particular, kids, adults, friends, family. There seemed to be as few as twenty, but there also seemed to be thousands, as if he'd lived his entire life and more helping others. Those were the images closest to his heart.

Further out, there were images of him fighting. Holding his sword out in front of him against monsters three times his size. In all of them he was facing away from the picture, as if declaring that nothing would get past him.

Surrounding these were images of beasts and men. A small doll-like snowman with a blue hat dancing in the snow, a samurai with two swords looking at the sky for a love lost before him, a blue demonic beast with red wings locked in combat with an angel coated in silver. Hundreds of tales not his own but a part of him still.

From far enough away the images blended into an image of a man wearing a helmet and a long white trench coat, holding a sword large enough it should be a spear eclipsed in a circle of golden light. It contained a single message as beautiful as it was frightening. Truth, incorruptible, pure and comprehensive.

You learn a lot from a soul gaze. I learned that this kid was a better man than I had ever been.

I didn't want to know what he learned.

"There's something that bugs me." Yu raised an eyebrow as I spoke. "How did you know I was the Winter Knight? Did your persona tell you?"

Yu shook his head. "Not my persona. I…I'm different than the others. Since early on I could summon more than one persona. I don't get to pick and choose which ones I take with me anymore, but a few of them still lend me a hand if I need it. Still, they're…less me than a real persona."

"Less you?"

"It's the only way to describe it. A real persona encompasses everything about a person, everything they accept and everything they reject. Those extra personas are more like filters. They only represent a very small part of me. At the same time, it's like I represent them. They are beings that lent me power to stop the plague, and their power is reflected through me into a persona."

"So the one who told you about me?"

"Black Frost. He's a fun guy to keep around when you need a happy face."

"So he's a member of Winter then?"

Yu flinched when I said that. "Sorry. He finds that hilarious. Says that he likes having fun too much to be caught up in politics. His brothers represent them in the courts."

'Brothers? That sounds like a story I don't want to get into.'

"He also says that Jack was impressed with how you handled the ball last year. Jack's always been a fan of the loopholes."

"Guess I'll have to meet him someday then. It's always good to have someone who likes you in a place like that."

"BF says that you can stop by for tea anytime. He also says that you probably shouldn't be wandering through the fae for a couple decades."

"I'll take it to heart. How many of those guys do you have hanging around up there anyway?"

"Only a few. Most of them withdrew their power after the case was closed. All the big shots, except for a couple angels and Yoshitsune, didn't think giving up some of their power for nothing was a good idea anymore. Chu joins in every once in a while, but Black Frost and Alice are the only ones who like to just chat."

"Sounds like a party."

Yu smirked. "Only when I bring the booze."

After that we stopped talking for a while. A glance at the sky told me it was more than a couple hours past midnight, but I wasn't tired. There was still something gnawing at the back of my head. A question I couldn't find an answer to.

Why now? Why were these shadows only now showing themselves? The band had fought them years ago, and a few times since, but their fights had been low key, without witnesses. Today they had attacked en masse, in a public place where not an hour earlier hundreds of fans had gathered.

"What changed?"

Yu looked away from the lake. He didn't say anything, but I hadn't been asking him anything either.

"Why would they attack there of all places? You said they chased you everywhere, but from what I saw in the soul gaze they never attacked so openly."

Yu looked back over the lake. "I don't know. You're right that they were never so open before, and to attack with someone like you who can fight back in this realm with no problems…it's like they're rushing."

I nodded. "Something we don't know. Gives us a place to start. Who can we ask about these shadows? I'd like to ask that Kirijo group you were talking about, but you said they've been out of touch right?"

Yu nodded. "The best person to ask right now is Labrys, but she won't wake up until morning."

I sighed. "More waiting. Guess we should go inside. We don't know when those shadows will come back. And I'd rather find a way to kill them that's a little less explosive."

Yu chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about that. I doubt they'll send that many that are weak to fire after last time."

"So they're not all weak to fire? Great."

I convinced Yu to take the last bed and plopped in a chair for the night. I'd wake up with a sore back, but I needed the sleep less than he did.

It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I felt my wards acting up. I stood up and snapped by back into place. Along the way to the door, I gathered just enough power to throw out a quick spell if I needed to. Right now there were only a few people who should have any idea where we were, but experience had taught me that there was always someone who could find you.

A knock resounded on the door Just before I reached it. I pointed my hand at the door and put on my best Harrison Ford. "Ticket please."

"I am not saying your stupid password." The voice of Karrin Murphy drifted from the other side of the door.

"Ticket please."

I head a mumble from the other side of the door.

"What?"

Her sigh was audible through the door. "These aren't the droids you're looking for."

I opened the door. She glared at me. I chose to step to the side and let her pass through. She still hit me though.

"Those aren't even from the same movie."

"That's why it's clever."

"Yeah yeah, Wile E. Coyote."

I nodded. "Suuuper Genius."

She glanced around the warehouse and spotted the band trying to wake up. "So are they the reason you managed to burn down the stadium last night?"

I did my best to look surprised, I really did. "What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"

Karrin just gave me a flat look. "The stadium burned down."

"You do make a fine point." I nodded wisely.

"So who's the hot chick?" It was Yosuke who spoke up, shortly before Chie elbowed him in the ribs.

"Next time, I'll kick you instead."

"Yes, ma'am."

"We get it. You two are a couple. Now, who the hell is the lady dammit!" Kanji glared at the both of us when he spoke. "I thought you said no one would know we were here."

"Her name is Karrin Murphy." Me and Karrin both looked surprised at Naoto. "She and Mr. Dresden have been working together for years. She was fired from her position at the CPD just over a year ago for likely falsified reasons. It's one of the things I was hired to look into."

Karrin glanced at me. "How much did you tell these kids?"

"About you? Nothing. This is the first I've heard Naoto say more than a few words."

The blue haired girl waited for us to finish before continuing. "I'm Naoto Shirogane, I was raised by my grandfather as a detective and came here to help out a family friend on some private matters. The circumstances of last year's incidents surrounding you two were one of his more pressing concerns. Unfortunately, I cannot say any more about the case, but I can say that the person who hired me held no ill will to either of you."

I could see Karrin's eyebrow twitching at someone this young being a PI. She had seen a lot of strange things over the years, but I guess it's some of the less mundane things that can get to you.

I wisely decided to back away. "As much as I'd like to see what's coming, the kids have a point. Why are you here?"

Karrin's twitching eyebrows shifted to me. "I got a call from a friend on the force. He wanted to make sure that you didn't have anything to do with the fire last night. I told him you wouldn't go anywhere near a concert like that. But seeing as the band is currently sitting in our safe-house, I guess it's safe to assume you've burnt down another building."

"You don't have to say it like it's a common thing."

"You've burned down buildings almost annually for 13 years."

I chose that moment to graciously back out of the argument. Murphy seemed satisfied.

"So do I get to play catch-up now or later?"

It was Yu who answered. "Later. Labrys is waking up."

Karrin followed my gaze to the pale robotic girl. "What on earth…?"

"Specially made robot with a soul. Pretty much a person without the gooey parts inside."

Gotta give Karrin some credit. She's learned to take the weird stuff in stride.

Yu knelt by Labrys' side and spoke calmly to her as she was waking up. I'm not sure his exact reasons for it, but she was acting very coolly for someone whose leg was missing a chunk last night.

A few minutes later, Labrys was sitting on the bed, happily greeting the members of the band with a huge grin on her face.

It took a few minutes for everyone to settle down before the real conversation could begin. It was Yu who took the lead again. "Labrys, why are you in Chicago? Why were there so many shadows last night?"

Labrys' eyes widened. "That's right. In my state last night the mission parameters were shunted, I almost forgot them."

She paused for a moment. Her eyes moved back and forth as if she was reading a book. "Kirijo-san sent me here. She sent me to warn you. The attacks on the golden gate have increased dramatically. He has been collecting power from something on this side, and she believes the ivory gate may be in danger as well. SEES has accessed the star-field and is holding him back. She needs us to find his power source."

I heard a groan, and to my surprise it was Yukiko holding her head in her hands. "This means I'm going have to cancel everything for the next few weeks doesn't it?"