"Woah!" I shouted, jumping back. The Shadow had suddenly grown a blue mask.

I've killed three of these before, so I reckoned that I could kill this one before the others caught up.

Mitsuru started talking as I put my Evoker to my skull. "Do you want me to go over the basics of-"

"ORPHEUS!"

BANG

Orpheus strummed his lyre and the Maya caught fire. "Not dead yet?" I asked, stabbing it in the eye. Now it exploded for real.

"What a stunning victory!" Mitsuru said just as Junpei and Yukari caught up.

"Damn man…" Junpei whistled. "I see what Akihiko-senpai was talking about now."

"Next one's all yours." I offered. "Come on."

We moved together this time, and found a staircase. "Do you see it?" Mitsuru asked us. "A staircase is the only way to proceed to the next floor. I can't allow you to go any higher today, but please remember about it next time."

Fair enough. Let's go this way.

"There's another Shadow ahead of you!" Mitsuru again. "You'll be at a disadvantage if the enemy gets the first hit in, so try to surprise your opponents and strike first."

I could see it easily. Right now it was looking away, but it'd turn round and attack if I went for it. "Yukari, you shoot it, me and Junpei will go for it, then you come help when you can." I ordered. "Junpei, I want you to get the first hit in, since you have the bigger sword."

"Got it." Yukari nodded

"Oh, Yeah!" Junpei shouted.

Idiot. Now it's heard us.

Sure enough, the Shadow turned around and charged.

"Yukari..!" I hissed.

"HUH!" An arrow flew past out heads and it hit the Shadow right between the eyes. Junpei ran for the exploding shadow.

"Nice shot." I remarked, chasing after Junpei. There were two Mayas this time, and Junpei had already done some serious damage to one of them, damn near cleaving it in half with a couple of frantic swings. Well, good thing to know he really did pick some things up from our spar the other day.

"With my power, I can analyse an enemy to determine its weaknesses and strengths."

"Really Mitsuru?" I asked as I stabbed. "Why don't you then-ARGH!"

Damn, that attack got me good. I kicked the Shadow off me, clutching my chest. "Or would that be too helpful?" I asked, not happy about how moist my hand felt.

It felt warm.

"They're called Cowardly Mayas." Mitsuru sounded mad. "Magician shadows like them are usually weak against fire."

"HERMES!" Junpei shouted as he fired his Evoker, and both shadows were burned to ashes.

I looked at Junpei, who was grinning.

His persona's fire was stronger than mine.

While Junpei gloated to Yukari, I remembered something.

Orpheus once travelled down to Tartarus to retrieve his love from Hades. After impressing the lord of the underworld with his music, Orpheus was allowed to return to the surface with his wife, as long as he didn't look at her until they left the underworld.

Once he saw sunlight, he forgot the rules and looked back to tell her that they were nearly there. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, flew up and stole her away, trapping her in the underworld forever.

Hermes and Orpheus didn't get on well after that trip into Tartarus, since Orpheus went insane and Hermes got played as the villain. Better keep an eye on him.

Mitsuru pulled me out of my thoughts. "There seems to be another shadow just around the corner." she said. "Approach carefully to avoid being spotted."

"Right." I replied, getting up. "Guh…" damn, that Shadow managed to get a decent hit in.

"Aw, our fearless leader hurt?" Junpei was definitely acting cocky. Glancing at him, I could now see his Persona hovering behind him, barely visible. Hermes. Magician Arcana. Strong to fire, weak to wind, knows Agi and Cleave.

Wait, Magician Arcana?

"Hm… The Magician… Your overconfidence is your weakness…"

Ah. That's what he meant. I looked at Yukari, who was looking at my wound with horror. I couldn't see her persona, so I looked down at my chest.

Beggary, that's actually pretty bad. I am so thankful for my pain tolerance.

"Hey, what's taking so long?" Junpei asked as he approached. "Just patch him up an HOLY CRAP THAT'S NOT GOOD!"

Yukari looked close to tears. "Th-this is my fault…"

Eh? "No it's not." I told her, rummaging through my bag for one of those magic healing gems Mitsuru gave us.

"Yes it is…" Yukari clutched at her evoker. "All because I didn't help you two fight… IO!"

BLAM

A cows head appeared when she pulled the trigger.

Well, a cows head with a woman chained to it.

I'm pretty descriptive for someone bleeding to death.

Actually, not anymore, the wound's closing up.

I looked at Yukari, and now I see her Persona. Io. Lovers Arcana. Strong to wind, weak to electricity. Skills are Dia, Patra and, now, Garu.

And here's me with Bash and Agi, with two weaknesses.

I got up to my feet. "Thanks. Let's go."

Poking my head around the corner, I saw the next Shadow Cluster.

That's what I'm calling them now. Shadow Clusters. They look like the Maya's, but without a mask, and stabbing it will make it split into several other Shadows.

This Shadow Cluster was bigger than the other two. Considering the sizes of the first two, I reckoned that this one would have three shadows it. "Junpei? Yukari?" I asked. "Hear me out."

The other two turned to me as I explained my plan.

"It'll never work man." Junpei warned.

"Trust me Junpei." I said with a grin. "It will."

With that I charged forward, throwing my sword into the shadow. As it exploded, I ran right into the middle of the explosion, and I was surrounded by three Cowardly Maya.

Just as planned.

My sword lay on the ground, and the three Shadows looked around for their attacker. Grinning, I put the Evoker to my head, pulling the trigger three times. Orpheus came forth, playing a fairly aggressive tune as the three Shadows caught fire, one after the other.

They didn't stand a chance. "NOW!" I shouted, grabbing my sword and shoving it into one of the Shadows back. Yukari and Junpei rushed forward, finishing off the remaining two.

It was almost murder.

I looked within myself to analyse my strength. Yukari's still stronger than me.

I sighed, and then some cards appeared in front of me, time slowing down around me – if I had to guess, this was probably all in my head. Five glass cards, one with a sword, one with a cup, one with a coin, a plant on the fourth, and the last one had a picture of a blue woman. The five cards flipped over and shuffled. Pretty easy, so I picked the woman, sensing it was different from the others.

I am Apsaras. I look forward to working with you.

Apsaras. Priestess Arcana. Resists ice, weak to slash attacks. Only skill was Bufu, an Ice attack.

I also felt Orpheus grow stronger. Grin. "Come on guys." I said, leading the way.

I'd only just stepped into the hallway when a huge Shadow Cluster jumped us, exploding as it touched me. However, this time, the four Shadows got to call the shots.

Yukari and Junpei were each shoved into the wall by a Shadow, leaving the other two to ram me into the wall.

I grunted and kicked back against their attacks. "A-are you alright?" Mitsuru shouted. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

I wormed my Evoker hand out of the Shadow and held it to my head.

By summoning Orpheus and Apsaras together, you can use the fusion skill Cadenza.

Spooky voices give interesting advice.

Hey, anything was good so, imagining them both, I pulled the trigger, and suddenly felt calm and the Shadows backed off. I felt a huge surge of energy, and threw it into the air.

No personas appeared, but we all heard a beautiful, invigorating melody. Suddenly, our wounds were mostly healed, but that wasn't all.

All of the Shadows had slowed down.

No, that wasn't it.

We were faster.

I easily dodged the Shadow's next attack.

It looked like it was underwater.

Using its momentum to power my sword was easy.

Too easy. In fact, the four Shadows all went down in record time thanks to our increased speed, despite the fact that they almost just killed us.

I saw the cards in my head again, this time collecting a persona called 'Pixie' of the Lovers Arcana, and time went back to normal.

"Wh-What was that?" Yukari panted. She and Junpei both seemed shocked.

"Arisoto Kun somehow managed to cast Masukukaja and used a healing skill on you all, but I'm curious." Mitsuru explained, yet really interested at the same time. "Orpheus has neither of those skills. How did you do it?"

I shrugged. Putting the evoker to my head, I felt my mind shift and heard the sound of breaking glass.

This is what Igor meant. "Apsaras."

BLAM

I imagined everyone's face as the Hindu goddess appeared and strummed a short melody, covering part of the wall I was facing with ice.

"What the hell man?" Junpei was the first to speak. "I thought your Persona was Orpheus!"

I felt my mind change and heard glass break again as I changed persona. "Orpheus!", and the ice melted at his riff.

"This… This isn't possible…" Mitsuru seemed amazed. "No-one can have multiple persona, it makes no sense!"

I shrugged. "Technically, I can only use one at a time, but I can switch between the ones I've got." I said.

"Any others apart from those two?" Junpei asked.

"So far, only this." The sound of breaking glass echoed again in my mind as I switched to Pixie. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Yukari watch me, just as intrigued as everyone else.

Better not disappoint then. "Pixie!" and I pulled the trigger. My remaining injuries disappeared and Junpei fell on his backside, laughing his arse off.

"Du-dude..." he weezed. "Th-that's hilarious!"

"It's not that funny, Stupei," Yukari snaped, sending him a withering look before looking back up at Pixie. "So that one can heal? Kind of like Io..."

"Thank you Yukari." I said, grinning like it was no big deal. But for some reason I suddenly felt like I saw her in a different light.

Maybe it was because I was now of the same Arcana as her?

Junpei was still laughing though. Can't have that, can we? Glass in my head smashed as I switched to Apsaras. I pulled the trigger again and an icicle appeared above Junpei and fell to the ground, missing him by an inch.

I suddenly felt tired. Not physically, but mentally drained.

"You should stop wasting your Spirit Points." Mitsuru warned. "As you use your persona's skills, your mental strength, or SP, weakens, though some skills weaken you physically." Mitsuru explained this, but I still thought that I could have used this information beforehand. "But this is incredible… A persona user who can wield multiple persona… I'll inform the chairman upon our return, but for now, continue exploration"

A few moments after setting off again, Mitsuru spoke again. "That's odd. Usually, there are more Shadows on the prowl."

"Hot damn." I groaned, scratching my neck. "More ways to die."

"...Well, at least you gained some experience in battle." She said. Yeah, me, Junpei and Yukari are all roughly the same strength right now. "Let's go back to the dorm for today. There should be an Access Point somewhere on that floor. You can use it to return to the entrance."

"So, there's no more shadows on this floor?" I asked.

"Correct."

"Cool." I nodded. "Alright gang," I turned to Yukari and Junpei, "Let's split up and look for clues."

We split up and looked for clues. I found a steel briefcase (Win) full of money (Also win), and Yukari found a couple of medicines, which weren't so much medicines, as drugs that temporarily set our Persona's healing skills into overdrive to heal any injuries.

So, yeah. Not really medicines at all.

"Check it out guys!" Junpei shouted over the radio. "I think I found it!"

"Nice one shaggy." I really needed to know whether they got the Scooby Doo reference or if it was wasted on them. "Let's go."

They didn't get the Scooby Doo reference. What we did get was a smaller version of the DDR machine downstairs. However, when Junpei stood on it, he disappeared. "It's alright." Mitsuru stated. "Iori just arrived down here."

Shrugging, I let Yukari step on it first and then I followed.

Teleporting feels weird.

I appeared on the larger DDR machine on the ground floor. It wasn't glowing like the one I just stepped on, but it had enough room for four passengers (Or players), plus some sort of screen, which wasn't working.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru said. She sounded weird now that I'd gotten used to hearing her over the radio. "So, how was it?"

"Apart from the times where I almost died, no problems." I shrugged.

Mitsuru frowned. "Don't get discouraged." she said. "You completed your task, and that's something to be proud of."

"Oh, I wasn't whining," I replied. "I actually quite enjoyed it." I vaulted over the dance/teleport machine's bar. "Let's go again."

Mitsuru smiled. "Well, if you gained confidence, that's the best thing you could have achieved."

Junpei looked psyched. "Man…" he chuckled darkly. "I never knew I had that kind of power… but damn…" Junpei sat on the stairs. "I'm beat…"

Yukari sighed. "That's cuz you were bouncin' around like a little kid."

Junpei looked up. "You look pretty tired yourself Yuka-Tan."

Yukari looked thoughtful. "I'm still trying to catch my breath actually…"

Mitsuru folded her arms. "That's an affect of the dark hour; you'll become fatigued more easily."

"Now do you see why I 'tortured' you on Sunday?" I told Junpei.

"Yeah yeah…" Junpei waved his hand dismissively. "Thanks and all that…"

I shrugged. "Don't worry, you'll adapt." I told him. "I barely notice it nowadays."

Mitsuru nodded. "But I'm surprised…" she said. "You all did much better than I expected… You all displayed an alarming use of tactics and maturity, although Akihiko and I may have been forced to help you if it wasn't for your ability Arisoto."

I nodded. "It won't happen again."

"Then I have no complaints." Mitsuru said, turning to our injured member. "At this rate, they'll catch up to you in no time Akihiko."

He smiled. "Heh, I doubt that."

I heard glass break and time stopped. The Fool card appeared again.

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to make a Persona of the Fool Arcana...

Trippy.

Time started again, but it looked like I was the only one that noticed it stopped in the first place.

I really needed to talk to Igor again.