Author's Notes: Thank you SKYS for your constructive criticism.

All idiosyncratic phrases such as wanna, gonna, and others are there intentionally. Not because of bad grammar.

Most italics during exploration are Fuuka's communications. Except for social links and whenever it obviously isn't. I want to keep a distinction, but I don't want to keep using she said every line.

It's summer time at last. Now the fun begins. Oh shit…. writer's block.

Chapter 14: Shadow: Tri Arcanus

Monday 6/18/2012

Summer vacation starts today so there will be no classes held until September. I ponder on what I will do over the long break. Yukari went out to plan for our trip so I decide to go to Inaba. Naoto-san should have the results ready.

I head for the train station and boarded the train to Inaba. I stared blankly at the spacious countryside from the window. Hard to imagine that so many things are happening here. I was also concerned from yesterday.

Adachi, no his shadow said that the other world is getting closer to ours. Humans will become shadows. No, I won't let that happen. I made a reminder to myself to explore tonight. The train arrived at Yasoinaba Station.

Normally Naoto would be around Junes so I went there. Surprisingly Naoto was already there along with Yosuke and Teddie. It was during school hours as well.

"So it's a real pain in the ass. I really don't want to go but I have to." Yosuke was talking to Teddie and Naoto. He seems distressed. Yosuke looked up and saw me approach them, "Hey, it's Aigis-san."

"Good morning Ai-chan." greeted Teddie in his usual cheerful self.

"Morning, Aigis." Naoto tipped her hat. "If you are wondering, we have summer vacation starting today."

"So what brings you to the boonies? I'm sure bored as hell here when there's nothing to do." asked Yosuke.

"I wanted to continue our discussion, Naoto-san." I answered. Yosuke looked puzzled.

"So I heard Teddie let you into the storage room. What did you two do in there?" Yosuke inquired. "I mean I am the manager's son and I do have to know what goes on there."

Naoto looked away shyly, "Nothing important, it's just matters that we'd rather discuss privately."

"Ooh, I smell a mystery. Can I be a part of your secret?" Teddie begged.

"Let me in on this too, I'm bored already." Yosuke complained.

Naoto sighed, "Fine if you insist. I was looking into a case ten years ago involving my parents deaths. Apparently I wasn't the only one who survived. Someone else was there and he was with me."

"Who, who was it?" Yosuke and Teddie both shouted at the same time eager to find out. Naoto continued to explain.

"Well I am not certain, but I am sure it was my brother. My parents had two children, my brother and myself. But I was just a toddler at the time, I hardly remember my brother nor what he looked like. Aigis-san has been helping me with the case, in her own way." explained Naoto.

I replied, "I am not certain, but I may have met your brother at one point. But I need your confirmation."

"About that, I have the results, but I am hesitant to say it. I feel that this is something very personal and I would like your consent before I present it for others to see." said Naoto. She looked concerned, but I saw no reason for her to be concerned except.

"I don't mind." I responded. "The truth whether for better or worse should be known."

Naoto took out a folder from her coat pocket which was surprisingly large. "The sample was clearly a male and a near perfect match with mine. Only minor differences were detected however those differences were those of a male and female. Just whose DNA did you give me?"

There was tension in the air as everyone focused their attention to me. I remained silent. I did not know what to say to that. The results are what I thought they are, that would mean.

"There's no way of knowing who it belongs to other than matching it with the original, but I'm sure you've made contact with him once." said Naoto.

"Hey Naoto, maybe you should ease up. I know this is important to you, but I think Aigis-san should talk when she wants to." Yosuke said sympathetically.

"Ai-chan are you okay? How about we go on a date? It'll take your mind off this." said Teddie.

"No I'm fine." I replied. Teddie looked disappointed once again.

"I'm not giving up." he mumbled.

"Please I really want to know who this man is." said Naoto with firm determination. "If you don't feel like saying it now, we can talk later. I trust you'll be able to tell me."

The trust placed upon you to deliver the truth has strengthened your bond.

Rank up! Hanged Man rank 4

My ability to create and use Personas of the Hanged Man Arcana increased. Not wanting to talk to them anymore, I decide to return to the dorm. The train ride back to very quiet as there were few passengers.

It seems everyone is in the lounge. "Hey Aigis, while you were gone we were all talking about vacation plans." said Yukari.

"I see." I said.

"We decide that we are going to Tatsumi Port Island, but we want your input on this." said Yukari.

"Why Tatsumi Port Island?" I asked. It was a memorable place, more painful than happy, but still it is a place full of memories.

"Hey, I wanted to go to the beach." remarked Junpei. "But it wouldn't hurt to visit the old dorm and school. Maybe some of our old friends are still around."

"But the full moon is in two days." I reminded them.

Junpei looked shocked, "Oh crap, then why haven't we been training. Anything could happen on those days."

Yukari and Fuuka both agreed that we should go train today. When everyone was ready, we all went to my room all the way down the hall on the second floor. Yukari slid over the closet door and we entered the TV one by one.

Inside the other world, we head straight for the entrance of Hades. We continued our exploration where we left off. The 3rd floor of Hades was different than the first two. After the initial scan by Fuuka, there were only two large arenas that had guardians.

"So there are two this time. I really hope we can just fight plain ol Shadows." said Junpei.

"Me too." Yukari nodded. "I really don't want to fight anyone from our past."

"Let's go, we must increase our strength for the full moon." I said. I led the team through a mass of shadows. With our Personas, we defeated them and advanced towards the location of one of the guardians.

At the coliseum where the guardians generally reside, the gate was locked. "Damn, we can't get in now." swore Junpei.

"Wait so we can't just fight the guardians whenever we want?" asked Yukari.

"No." I replied, "There are certain conditions based of the lock." I examined the large padlock on the gate. It had no keyhole, but it has a symbol of a half moon.

"What does it mean?" Yukari asked.

"I assume we will have to wait until the moon is half before we enter. That has been consistent so far." I replied. We continued to defeat shadow after shadow until everyone was exhausted.

"I'm getting tired." Junpei was staggering.

"Yeah, I know right?" Yukari could barely pull her arrow all the way.

"Fuuka-san, an escape route." I requested.

Sure thing.

We were warped back to the entrance.

"So did you find out anything new?" Fuuka asked.

Yukari responds, "Nothing much other than we got to wait until a half moon."

"Why can't we just deal with these guardians all in one go? I just want to get to the bottom fast." Junpei whined.

"If there are limited times we can fight the guardians to advance then tomorrow I suggest we check the other coliseum to see if it's locked. Even if it's locked we still need to know when it will be open." said Fuuka.

"Alright then let's come here tomorrow then." I said. Everyone gave weary nods and returned. There was a stack of TVs left where we entered. I never noticed it but there was a note attached to the side.

I left an exit for you guys whenever you need it. So Ai-chan, you want to go out sometime?

-Teddie

We've kept using this exit. I've got to thank Teddie later.

Tuesday 6/19/2012

Everyone was in the lounge this morning. Yukari and Fuuka were both in the kitchen probably making breakfast. Junpei was lying on the couch.

"Morning Ai-chan." he said lazily. "Man I really wish this dorm was co-ed. It's a pain to go back to the men's dorm every night."

"But that is the school regulation." I replied.

Junpei sighed, "Yeah but this dorm feels really like home. It's like the one we used to live in. Only there are only 4 of us here and I don't know where everyone else is."

Yukari and Fuuka both leave the kitchen with plates in there hands. "Nice Yuka-tan." Junpei looked at the plates of food eagerly. They put the plates down on the coffee table. There were 4.

"Wait so whose eating Ai-chan's share?" Junpei asked. It wasn't unusual for them to get an extra serving for me. I feel happy that my friends see me as a sentient being rather than a shell.

"Well I don't want to get fat." said Yukari.

"But you exercise a lot don't you Yukari-chan." Fuuka followed up. "I don't really get out much so I should worry."

"More for me." Junpei got his chopsticks. "Itadakimasu!"

"Tsk, why did we even make you breakfast?" said Yukari. "So Aigis, let's train today. The full moon is tomorrow right?"

"Yes it is, but we have until dark to do as we please." I replied. I didn't really know what to do today. I suddenly got a phone call and I got my cell phone from my skirt pocket and answered. "This is Aigis."

Hey it's Neku. Want to hang out today?

I thought about it. I haven't seen him in almost 2 weeks. If I recall he was working on his art.

"When would be a good time?" I asked.

Anytime just come over to the art building on campus. He hung up.

"Is that one of your friends Aigis?" asked Fuuka. I nodded.

"You've made new friends. That's nice. Could I meet him sometime?" said Yukari.

"Well I am going to go meet him now." I said as I left the dorm. It was a short walk to the university and I went inside the art building. Neku's room should be around….. here. I opened the door.

The entire room looked completely different from the last time I saw it. Instead of abstract graffiti like pictures, there were black and white comic pages. I think Junpei showed me this before, it was manga was it?

Neku was bent over his desk, his pen moving constantly. "Hey you came." he said. "If you're wondering about the room, I decided to make a manga."

"I could see that." I replied sarcastically.

He dropped his pen and got up from his seat, "I wanted to show you a new form of expression: Manga." he hands me a bunch of pages. It had several sketchy drawings with dialogue in between.

"You are writing a manga?" I asked.

"Yep." Neku said proudly. "It's one of the most popular art forms in Japan. Animes come from manga and video games and card games as well."

I read through the pages. The story seems a bit complicated so I asked Neku to explain.

Starting from the first page Neku pointed out, "It's about these kids who wake up in Shibuya. The thing is that no one can see, hear, or touch them. Then they get a text message on their phones saying that they have to play the Reaper's Game or they will be erased from existence."

"Reaper's game? Erased?" I was confounded.

"Well it has a deep plot and I don't think Jump, one of the main publishers so I'll run it for Square. Moreover the main character finds out that he's dead and has to make a pact with someone else in the game to live otherwise monsters called noise will attack him." said Neku.

"That sounds like it would be interesting." I said. Neku seems happy.

"Well this is something that I wanted to do. I'll still work on my usual stuff but I want to expand my form." Neku nods as he agrees with himself. "I hope you could give me your opinions in the future."

Expression and expressiveness increased. Star rank 3

Neku continued to work on his manga until dark and then I decide to go back to the dorm.

I gathered everyone together and we made our second expedition to Hades. "Hey doesn't this place look a little different since last time?" Yukari pointed out.

It's just like Tartarus. The structure changes everyday, but those coliseums are still in the same place. You just need to take different paths. Fuuka communicated.

"But what if we went to the same one as yesterdays. Then we would need to backtrack and go all the way back to find the other one." said Yukari.

I've memorized the location from yesterday. I'll draw a path on the map for you. Just follow the path and you'll get there, but be careful of shadows.

Fuuka's ability to communicate mentally has always been an asset. She also projects a map of the area in our minds. I led the way following the path draw on my mental map.

Shadow detected 40 meters ahead. It was 3 large muscular shadows that we've faced numerous times before. They have very powerful physical attacks.

Watch out! 3 Enemies! They're going to attack.

The shadows performed a headlong charge. They were approaching fast. "Persona!" I shouted. Athena appeared between me and the 3 shadows. She stopped their charge with her shield, but we were being slowly pushed back.

"Magarudyne!" Yukari shouted.

I heard the sound of an evoker being fired and then an emerald green whirlwind swept the shadows into the air making them fall down afterwards.

"Here's our chance!" Junpei shouted. One of the shadows tried to crawl away. "Get back here you son of a…." Junpei got his evoker and fired. Trismegistus soared into the air almost touching the roof and delivered a flying kick to finish it off.

"Not bad Junpei, but I can do better." Yukari called our her Persona once more. "Magarudyne!"

"Thanks you." I withdrew my Persona.

"No problem, sides if you didn't stop those guys we'd been flatten out." Junpei grinned. "Now let's go before more come."

We continued on the path that Fuuka showed us. We went straight on the path for a few minutes and then made a sharp turn right when the path split. There were more shadows.

They're called Grand Magus. There are 4 of them be careful, they cast powerful magic, but they're weak to fire.

Fuuka's analysis proved helpful as I switched my Persona to Surt and cast a powerful maragidyne. A powerful explosion ignited the shadows causing them to burn to ashes. Unfortunately the flames began to attract other shadows.

"Crap, there's more." snarled Junpei. "You know what? I'm feeling great today! Vorpal Blade!" he fired his evoker at his head. Trismegistus flew around us at lightning speed slashing everything around us.

A swift gust went by Yukari as Trismegistus flew. "Hey watch it!" Yukari yelled at Junpei.

"Whoops my bad." Junpei chuckled. The shadows were no more.

"Let's go." I led the team further inside. We managed to avoid any further confrontation with the shadows for the time being. "Fuuka-san how much farther is the guardian?" I asked.

It should be close just keep going, but please don't overexert yourself.

We finally arrived at our destination. However what we found there was unexpected. There was no lock to keep us out however there were no shadows to be found inside. "Everyone stay alert." I told them. Junpei readied his katana and Yukari drew her bow slightly.

"What's with the creepy skulls?" Yukari stared at the skulls that lay on the ground. I looked around and saw that there were skulls all around us placed in a uniform manner.

There were high walls around the arena and there were bleachers built for an audience like most coliseum designs, but they have always been empty. However this time there were skulls lined up along the seats.

"Yeah this is kind of creeping me out." said Junpei nervously. "Hey Ai-chan are you sure there aren't any shadows here?"

"I will request an analysis from Fuuka san." I replied.

I don't sense anything strange, but be careful I have a bad feeling about this.

Without warning, the gates closed behind us effectively trapping us in.

There's definitely a strong presence there. Don't let your guard down.

Uuuoooohh. An ominous sound echoes. Everyone had there hands on their evokers. I scanned the area frantically searching for the source of the sound. The sound was unintelligible, but was beginning to sound more distinct.

Aw my life there's no meaning to it now. Good bye cruel world.

God kill me now.

Well here goes nothing.

I wish the end would come.

Several more shouts rang through the air.

"Hey what's happening?" Yukari was starting to look frightened.

"Yeah I know what you mean. Whose there! Show your creepy ass so I can send it straight to hell!" Junpei shouts angrily.

This feeling, it's so dark. The malice it's growing.

"It makes sense. This is the other side reflected from human thought. It's not unreasonable to say that negative thoughts and emotions exist here as shadows." I said calmly. Still when I think about it I feel as if our efforts were for nothing. Yukari and Junpei looked at me with sympathy.

"Well standing here isn't going to do anything." Yukari perked up. "Let's find that shadow and destroy it."

"It must be those skulls! They have to have something to do with this." exclaimed Junpei.

"Should I destroy them?" I asked. As soon as I asked however a mass of black emerged from beneath the ground. It flowed upward and formed a giant humanoid shape. It's body viscous and fluid. Unlike other shadows what truly distinguished it were its three masks.

There were 3 arcana masks: Empress, Emperor, and Hierophant where the head would be.

I'm scanning it now… It has no weakness, just do your best.

The skulls around us floated in the air and orbited around the shadow. The eyes lit with an eerie blue flame.

"To think people are still holding stuff like this inside them." Junpei glared at the shadow. "That's it you're going down." Trismegistus dove in and pieced through the shadow. However the large hole made quickly closed up and nothing happened at all.

"You got to go for the masks Junpei." Yukari drew her bow and fired. The arrow went straight for one of the masks however one of the skulls intercepted the arrow. I fired a barrage also, but it was blocked by the skulls.

"Uooooohh." the shadow made an eerie sound. It crushed one of the skulls floating around it and there was a blood curling shriek. After that it was followed by a massive hailstorm.

"Everyone take cover!" I shouted. Athena held her shield up to shelter everyone. Then I heard the sound of something being crushed and a shriek afterwards.

I looked up and a bolt of lightning struck Athena. The attack was paralyzing. I couldn't move.

"Take this! Agidyne!" Junpei shouted. There was an explosion and black fluids splattered everywhere. The shadow was agitated and crushed another one of the skulls to cast a garu skill on Junpei.

"Aigis get up! This guy is tough. It's using all of our weaknesses against us." Yukari desperately tries to heal Junpei who was being constantly assaulted with garu spells.

That's it! Those skulls! It needs to crush those skulls to cast different spells.

I got up and quickly changed by my Persona to Metatron. The mechanical angel flew in between Trismegistus and the shadow. Metatron reflected all the elemental spells the shadow casted right back at it.

"Everyone stay back." I shouted. Metatron flew high above his arms raised and gathering energy.

An intense voice was heard from above.

"I am Metatron, the Divine. I shall bring ruin upon all who opposes the Lord." The energy gathered into a massive sphere. Megidolaon!

"This is bad we'll get caught up in it. We can't get out remember?" Junpei said panicking.

"Aigis! What are you doing?" Yukari shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll protect everyone." I assured them. I closed my eyes and searched deep within. Vishnu… Ananta….

"Time for me to lend you my power." Pharo's voice echoed in my mind. I forgotten to bring the evoker. "You don't need it anymore. It was just a keepsake."

I gathered all my power. "Infinity!" I shouted. Vishnu and Ananta emerged and created a protective barrier. The Megidolaon fell down to strike it's target and there was a blinding light.

"Ahh!" Yukari screamed.

"Whoa!" Junpei fell back.

When everything settled down, almost nothing was left. The skulls that lined the arena were all vaporized and the shadow was on its last legs. Its body was barely a fraction of the size it used to be and it was quickly melting away.

That was great guys. Good job. Now let's head back and get some rest.

Fuuka transported us back to the entrance. "That was dangerous, but I'm glad everyone is safe."

"Holy, and I thought we should conserve our strength for tomorrow." Junpei said wearily.

"I'm beat too." Yukari looked tired.

We walked back wearily to the dorms.

Chapter 14: End

Author's notes: What awaits at the next full moon starting next chapter! I have an idea that I would like to try for the Hierophant battle and onwards. Leave a review saying that you would be interested in hearing my idea and I'll PM you.