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Minatodai Dorm, 1st Floor Lounge

Daytime

"Go fish."

Ken reached out and ran his finger over the outstretched cards in Midori's hand. Starting intently into her eyes, he tried to read which card was which by the reflection in her glasses and the way she held her gaze. It didn't help as all he could see was the slight reflection of Metis watching the both of them by leaning over between the two players.

Apparently the robot had never heard of the game, and was learning how by watching the two of them go at it. They had tried to get Akihiko to join in, but he declined as he said he wanted to talk with Mitsuru in private a bit first.

That left the two of them to keep Metis entertained. They had first tried something a bit more complicated, but the poor girl had problems keeping up with the non-math parts of the game, so Ken and her decided to start simple.

Ken pulled out a card at random and plopped a pair of aces on the table between them. "Not what I wanted" he sadly announced.

Smirking, Midori now knew which cards in his hand were which and used it to clean out the game. With her first victory in a long time now to her name, she set about reshuffling the deck.

"Why do you not enter some form of standby mode while waiting for Sister to return?" Metis asked as Midori now dealt three hands worth of cards. Ken looked at Midori to give an answer as he had unofficially allowed Midori to be Metis' babysitter due to the lack of more mature options.

"Human's don't do a 'standby' as you and Aigis do," she tried to explain as she would to a child, being calm and using simple words. "We do sleep, but that's like when you shut down for the night for maintenance." She paused to let Metis draw a card from her hand. "It's just convenient for everyone to do so all at once, rather than have people awake or asleep all at different times."

"Yet why did Sister let you stay in standby for a longer period of time?"

"Huh?"

"She meant, why Aigis let you sleep in" Ken clarified.

"Oh. Um." Midori searched for an answer that would satisfy the robot.

"Because Midori is more intense in her activities, and as such, requires a little more rest than the rest of us to keep pace." Akihiko came to her rescue as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Can you deal me in?"

"Sure, next game."

As the three played, Midori felt compelled to ask, "Is Mitsuru still working on that message?"

"Yes, she is." Akihiko admitted. "She wanted to make it perfect, so she's racking her brain how to best compose it." He shook his head sadly. "She'll need a break eventually."

"Actually, I have a question for Metis." Ken hesitantly put forward as they played some more. "What is your Arcana?"

Metis seemed surprised at the question. "Heirophant. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Ken began, "I was wondering about Aigis. I know she joined SEES as Chariot, became Aeon after Naoya-san healed her, and if she's the Wild Card now, does that make a the Fool?"

Midori and Akihiko considered this line of reasoning in their own way. "That's not impossible," Akihiko admitted as the game finished and the cards were passed for him to shuffle and deal. "We don't have the capacity to check that at the moment, but"

"But that assumes that the Fool and the Wild Card are intrinsically linked." Midori finished off. "And that doesn't explain how Aigis was able to go there in the first place."

"Because Sister is special!" Metis made this declaration with pride.

"There is another option. Minato could have passed that power to her after he defeated Ryoji." Akihiko looked at his hand, but kept his best poker face on.

"Right! Ryoji did say things to Aigis in that butterfly place after the fight, right? Was this what he meant?" Ken glowered at his options.

"But that doesn't mean that her Arcana is Fool. It's quite possible for a person and her Persona to be two different Arcana." Midori pointed to herself as the example. "Frosty is the Fool, but I'm the Moon, right?"

"And I have a lot of qualities of both Emperor and Star," Akihiko pointed out, "but Caesar is Emperor, so I was slotted into that." He paused. "What if that was a mistake, and I, personally, am of the Star Arcana, and like Midori, have a Persona that is different?"

"It's possible." Metis admitted as she tried to figure out what to do with her own cards.

"You know, I never understood what that was all about. I mean, I'm the Moon?" Midori shook her head. "I'm not a Senshi! I would have thought I would have been a perfect fit for the Love or Justice arcana."

"One's opinions of oneself does not make for such things."

"But that's weird. I mean, if the Wild Card is associated with the Fool, and Midori is already associated with it as well through Black Frost, why did Aigis get it, and not her?"

A sudden silence reached across the table as the three humans took in the implications of that. "Ken," Akihiko warned, "do you really want Midori to have access to the Wild Card?"

"HEY!" The girl in question objected loudly. "I would never betray Frosty like that!" To demonstrate her point, she summoned her Persona and engulfed him in a huge hug, glaring death and destruction at the two males that they dared suggest she use anything else.

Ken thought about it, then shuddered slightly. "Alright, it's for the best that Aigis got that power, no matter how it came to be." He put down his hand. "I'll get some water. Anyone else?"

"No thanks." "Yes, please." "I don't drink."

As Ken went back, Midori gathered up the cards for another round. "Seriously, Akihiko-sensei," she used the more formal address to make sure the gravity of her followup question was proper, "why did you say I would be a bad choice?"

Knowing he wouldn't get out of answering in the longrun, he took a breath to order his thoughts. "Part of the identification process behind ones Arcana is psychological, in addition to the nature of the Persona itself. Where the Fool, Frosty, is understood to represent the concepts of new beginnings, of wisdom in foolishness."

Midori hid her appreciation that Black Frost was indeed a new beginning, but didn't like the idea that the wisdom of "Love and Justice" was foolish.

"The Moon, once again from a psychological standpoint, represents dreaming, a certain frame of mind that isn't connected to the material world and in exercising it through creative means. There's a saying in English that translates loosely as 'Reaching for the Moon', which is to say, having an unattainable goal yet striving for it anyways."

She wasn't sure how to take that, so Midori decided to figure it was a compliment.

"You mentioned Justice and Lovers, right? Well, Ken is Justice. It coincides with not just with the notions of justice as in doing what's right, but also couched in terms of absolutes. Law. Order. Logic and Reason. You're far too emotional for that."

She nodded in understanding, disappointed.

"Lovers – Yukari, by the way – is about our personal relationships and our choices therein. It is not 'love' in the romantic sense, but rather the love that comes with knowing other people, our connections with other humans. I'm not sure what that says about her though, but for you, you're focused more on the ideal of 'Love', not the more material and immediate one."

"In summation, you, as a person, don't have the sense of the beginnings that the Fool requires. Your Persona represented the start of your journey as a Persona user, and hasn't changed. You're still moving forward. As a person, you are a dreamer, you don't see the world like the rest of us, and that allows Frosty to stay as a Fool whenever you interact with the rest of us."

Finished, Akihiko took the glass from Ken and drank it all down. "At least we still have power and water."

"That is a boon I will not examine too closely." Mitsuru announced from the stairs. "And your explanation was well formulated, Akihiko."

"Ah! Mitsuru! Do you have that message for me?"

Showing off a folded piece of paper in one hand, Mitsuru nodded. "Yes. However, I must remind you to not send it until as early as possible tomorrow morning." She handed it over to Midori, who accepted it gracefully. "I must speak with Fuuka for a few minutes, then I will return. Once Aigis is back, we will formulate our next course of action."

The Abyss of Time

"How goes it?" Mitsuru asked Fuuka as they both stood in the circle of doors.

"Well enough. Aigis is getting used to her new power, though she relayed to me that she seems to have reached a limit on the number of Personas she has, and needed to talk to Midori once she returned."

"Thank you. I have a question for you."

"Yes, senpai?"

"You know Kihara Atsuro." That wasn't the question, but a statement to make sure they were both on the same page. "Would you say that he is trustworthy?"

"Yes." Fuuka's response was immediate and absolute. "He is a skilled programmer, as good as I am, if not better. I can vouch for his honesty." She gathered her courage to ask a question of her own. "Why do you ask?"

"With this 'Babel Server' that Komaki has access too being under his jurisdiction, and it being constructed with Kirijo Group technology, it would be prudent to bring him into a more direct relationship with the Kirijo Group."

"You're going to hire him?" Fuuka was incredulous. And jealous. And not a bit scared. It would be something completely different to actually meet a person one has only talked to over the internet before in person.

"Yes. I take it you are in agreement?"

"Y... Yes, senapi."

It as at that moment that Aigis chose to emerge from the door leading out of Malebolge. The rest of the party followed close behind her in various states of energy and health. "Greetings, Mitsuru-san." Aigis bowed slightly. "I believe we are ready to complete this section of the Abyss" her report was curt as she walked past her senior and headed for the Dorm proper.

Slightly taken aback by the comment, Mitsuru spared some thought for the development, or rather backsliding of Aigis in the face of the adversity that they now faced. On some level, it was troubling, but the having Aigis focusing on their predicament and resolving it would also provide a good focus for the rest of the team.

Following Fuuka, she considered the possibility of using this as a means to keep Midori under the close watch of the Kirijo group as she socialized Aigis properly. It would be something worth considering as it would play more towards Midori's social side rather than the more direct approach of responsibility with her power, and would also help Aigis in the long term.

It would be something to think about.

1st Floor Lounge

"Metis, Akihiko and Yukari." Aigis stated her team for the coming push to reach the limit of the dungeon.

"What about me...!" Midori stood and complained. "I'm feeling perfect!"

Aigis turned to face her junior. "Your assistance is not necessary at this point."

"Yes!" Metis announced from her position behind and supporting Aigis. "Sister doesn't need you!"

The look Midori shot Metis could have melted steel, but thankfully that was not the case. "Go ahead." Aigis commanded her team, "I will be a moment."

As the others filed out, the blonde robot bowed in apology to Midori. "Once again, I do not know what my sister has against you, Midori, but I apologize for her behaviour again. I will try to rectify her attitude as we progress."

Midori recognized the honest intent. But she couldn't help but feel that something was off. Instead, she found herself nodding and accepting the apology, dismissing Aigis to her duties. After she left, she huffed and collapsed into a seat beside Ken. "Argh! You know, I could stand Metis if she was acting one way or the other. But the moment she and Aigis are together, she becomes this.. this bitch."

Chidori raised one eyebrow in that universal declaration that she thought that Midori was being off herself in some way. Midori replied with an eyebrow of her own that demanded an explanation. Ken, not being female, had no idea what was being said, and instead started a second thread to the conversation. "Could it be because you're Aigis' friend? Metis thinks of you as a threat somehow?"

"I doubt it," Mitsuru said after a minute. "Naoya-san doesn't seem like the kind of person to create that sort of programming, even by accident. No, I think there is a bigger interaction going on here. Have you offended Metis in any way, Komaki?"

Her incredulous response was honest. "No! Never! Well, aside from fighting her when she showed up, I wasn't really rude to her or anything like that."

"Maybe it was because she offered battle against Metis before Aigis arrived?" Chidori pointed out as she accepted Koromaru into her lap and began to pet him. "Metis may have some lingering opinions from where Midori opposed her."

"You make it sound like she's holding a grudge," Ken observed the attention Koromaru was getting, wishing he could be the one holding the dog.

"She's not." Midori flatly said as she tried to figure out what made Metis tick. "I think she's just new to this whole 'other people' thing, and I'm just the one she doesn't like. I mean, there are some people you just hate with no reason, right?"

Blank looks came back. "Seriously? There's no one you don't like irrationally? Just because?"

Still nothing. "Well, normal people can have that happen sometimes."

"Normal is not something that is applied to us all that often," Ken had to admit. "But yes, I've seen it with my classmates."

"And I, in the business world." Mitsuru found her own relation to the concept. "People who cannot let got of their personal feelings, and in the end, make things worse for the rest of us due to their personal actions."

"See!" Triumphant that she got her point across, Midori kept talking. "It's just like that! Except she doesn't like me."

"Then Aigis should talk to her to correct her behaviour."

Replying to Mitsuru, Midori gave her a pitying gaze. "You can't just 'correct' a person, Senpai. They may be robots, but they are people first. You can't just flip a switch when things don't go your way."

Ken and Chidori made sounds of agreement with her position, Koromaru barking as well.

Malebolge, The Abyss of Time

"Why do you disparage Midori?"

Akihiko and Yukari were unsurprised by Aigis' direct question, but Metis wasn't. "Sister? Why would you say that?"

The team descended quickly through Malebolge, and the humans were waiting for this confrontation to happen. "Because your fixation on her is unusual and disruptive. While I would prefer to trust you, if I was forced to make a permanent decision between the two of you, I will pick Midori."

Metis stopped, stunned at the brutal admission. "But why?" Her voice was full of pain and sorrow at the potential rejection."

"You evade the question!"

"She's evil!" Metis blurted out, "she can't be trusted!"

"That, I don't believe." Yukari interjected before Aigis could say something. "Sure, she's off in her own little world half the time, but in the end, she's a very loyal person. And I've never seen her do anything 'evil'."

"A Persona is the hidden self of the person made manifest, correct?" Metis found making her case against Yukari easier than trying to convince her Sister. And if she could convert others, they would be able to present her opinions better.

"Yes..."

"Well, Black Frost is evil. Therefore Midori's real side is evil."

"I think I know what she's talking about." Fuuka spoke up from the 'ground floor' of the Abyss. "I remember when Midori first summoned Frosty against the Hermit. I was unprepared for the raw energy she put out, and I called it 'evil', like it was a demon. But after that Igor she and Minato met apparently helped stabilize Frosty, that sensation was limited. Sure, it was still there, but it was far more... tame? Less? I don't know how to describe it, but it was no longer a distraction."

"I remember that," Yukari said, rolling her shoulders at the physical memories. "It was attacking me and she jumped out of nowhere to protect me. That's not evil."

"I agree." Akihiko recalled his own confusion over the excessive nature of Black Frost in the days that followed the fifth of September. "It was a defence mechanism that was a holdover from the Lockdown," he surprised himself by finally making these sorts of connections months after the fact, "the sense of 'evilness' was a way for her to keep foes away from her without actually fighting them, and it was lost when she started fighting Shadows and not other Persona users."

"But Black Frost is an evil fairy!" Metis objected again. "How can you not believe me?"

"Well, if what Akihiko says is true," Yukari waved one hand absently, "then maybe Midori turned on the 'evil' switch in Frosty when she fought you, and you're still under its effects? She is an actress of sorts, so it wouldn't be hard for her to fake that sort of thing."

Finding herself loosing the battle, Metis struggled to find a way to express her opinion of the subject of their discussion. But Aigis came to her rescue in a way. "That is enough. The hows and the whys of your dislike of her do not matter as long as you can control yourself. You do not need to impress me by trying to drag her down in my presence."

"Yes, Sister."

Minatodai Dorm, 1st Floor Lounge

"Everyone, Aigis has cleared a path to the lowest part of Malebolge, and wants everyone there." Fuuka's voice rang through everyone's mind, causing them all to rouse themselves and prepare. "She encountered that black non-Shadow again, but it escaped while she was fighting the 'boss' of Malebolge. There is another door down there, and she wants everyone there for assistance."

"We will be right there." Mitsuru made sure her foil was properly secured before leading the rest of SEES into the Abyss.

[b]Malebolge, The Abyss of Time[/b]

"It's a door." Aigis examined the freestanding marble entryway flanked by two incense burners. The door backed out into an empty off-white sky that seemed sickly when compared to Aigis' own skin. They all stood on a segmented floor that bore the marks of the battle fought here against the Shadows that defended it. It looked to Midori like an appropriate end-room for the dungeon, so she was surprised that the door was there.

"It is our first goal," Metis clarified. "Beyond it is the first link that binds you here, Sister."

"I thought you said you already beat up the boss?" Ken questioned coolly. "Is there another one behind that?"

"No," Fuuka said as she dismissed her Persona. "There are no more Shadows in Malebolge. Coming here seems to have taken care of the rest of them. I cannot sense what is behind that door, but it must lead into a new region."

"Midori, Mitsuru, Chidori, will you please join me?" Aigis asked as she released the other members of her team to rest. "If there is something on the other side, we should be prepared."

Midori nodded, willing Frosty into existence. "Ready!"

Nodding at their stance, Aigis pushed open the door, and everyone was surrounded by a flash of brilliant and dazzling light.

"Agh!" Midori complained with many others as she reacted badly to the sudden change in the ambient illumination. As her eyes adjusted, she completely disbelieved the evidence of her senses.

"The Mall?" Yukari questioned her own eyes as the group took everything in. "No way! We're free!" With that, she broke into a run towards the front doors, leaving everyone else behind. "Come on!"

"Yukari! Wait!" Mitsuru yelled out to try and stop Yukari from making a possible mistake. "This can't be real!"

Heedless of the warning, Yukari ran past the fountain. "Halt!" The command was sharp, harsh, and male, a surprising voice that none had heard for days. It was enough to shock the brunette into halting to find who had spoken.

"Kurosawa-san!" Akihko called out in surprise as the police officer emerged from his office. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm working today. And what are you all doing here?" His sharp questioning gaze took in ever member of the group. "Today is a school day." His reprimand was quite direct, focused mostly on Mitsuru and Akihiko. Then he actually saw Aigis and Metis as the latter made her way through the group towards the front. "What? Is there some sort of event going on today? Those two are dressed unusually."

"Detective! We were trapped an just got out!" Yukari announced to anyone who could hear, though it looked like the Mall was empty.

"What are you talking about?" Kurosawa looked back between Yukari and the rest of SEES. "I know the rules don't have normal applications with you, but you still need to have concern for the rules. If you exceed yourself, the law is still on my side." He looked back to Yukari. "And that's Officer. Not Detective." With that, he turned and re-entered the police station, leaving everyone else to stand there, stunned.

"What." Midori began, "was. That."

"The date on this notice." Mitsuru had examined one of the posters on the window of the police station, "it it from last year. They all are."

"That doesn't make any sense." Ken looked around, still confused. "How did we get here?"

"Time is not linear," Metis said as she walked up to the fountain and stared at it with all the attention a robot could give something. "The Abyss of Time is just that, it is something that can connect not only here and there, but also now and then. Sister, what is this?"

"That is a 'fountain'," Aigis said as Metis ignored the reactions from the others. "I come here sometimes to gaze at it. I find it... soothing."

"You do too? R-really? That is good, Sister."

Midori joined up with Akihiko, Fuuka, Chidori and Mitsuru as they congregated at the base of the stairs leading up to the Mandagora. Beside them, the door leading back into the Abyss still stood there, ignored by everyone else. "What are you all thinking?" Chidori demanded softly. "This place doesn't seem real to me."

"It doesn't." Fuuka agreed. "But at the same time, it is."

"Komaki, check the stores." Mitsuru ordered as Midori made her presence known with a polite cough. "See if they are open, and if this place truly is disconnected in time from the Dorm."

Midori bowed, and did as she was told, quickly circling around the outside perimeter of the Mall, checking each store in turn. Her first stop was the Mandagora itself, but it was closed this early in the day. Next was the back hall, where she hoped to find some sign of the Velvet Room to give to Aigis, but found nothing instead. The jewelry store was closed, undergoing renovations, the pharmacy and music store both open, the store owners ready for business.

On a lark, she investigated the claw machine when she saw that there was a Jack Frost doll in it, though her one attempt failed. The front doors were shut, her hands slipping off the handles not matter how much she tried to grip them. Yukari was there, trying to find some purchase to no avail. She ignored Midori, though the younger girl didn't try very hard to get her attention.

Club Escapade was closed until the evening, the Cafe was open but she didn't enter, the potpourri store also closed and finally she saw Detective – no, 'Officer' - Kurosawa in his station, occasionally looking up into the Mall for any signs of trouble.

Returning to the group, she reported in.

"At least we can purchase limited supplies here," Mitsuru looked on the positive side of things. "I still have the Dorm Expense Card back in my office, so when we return, we can progress through Malebolge to get what we need."

"But why this date?" Fuuka asked the question that was on everyone's minds. "Why June of last year? Why not today, or rather, say yesterday, the 30th?"

No one had an answer.

"Anyways, we should return to the Dorm. We can make better plans now without the threat of running out of supplies being imminent."

"Until the local stores run dry," Chidori pointed out.

Metis spoke up from the fountain. "Just as the Dorm resets every night, so shall this place. Everything is connected."

"Wait, does that mean we'll have to fight through all those Shadows again to get here?" Ken groaned, causing Koromaru to whine in sympathy.

"I do not know."

"The list of things you know and do not start to irritate me, tin-child." Chidori narrowed her eyes as she insulted Metis. "Be properly useful for once."

"Um, Chidori? Should you be mean like that?" Midori kept her voice low as she saw something she didn't want to see start to develop.

"Don't worry," Akihiko whispered. "We're just checking something."

"Huh?"

Metis didn't seem to react to the words directed at her. "It is what it is, what use is there in trying to understand it all?"

"We must, in order to escape."

"I told you, you just have to follow Sister, and release the bonds that bind her!"

"And what if that's not good enough?"

Metis had no response.