The tower, FL:1, two days until executions

The demon slammed its rod at the spot I was standing at. The rod this monster was rocking was strong enough to crush a person like an easy press! I needed to attack but this thing is larger than life itself. "Time to bust loose, Skeith!" He went soaring towards the demon's head, it tried to stop him but Skeith was able to dodge the rod. "Gigantic fist!" A purple fist appeared and hit the demon on the face, making a loud echoing sound. "Yes!" "Fool." I felt a hard impact hit my face, my vision was a bit skewed. The demon has physical reflect, that's not doing me any favors. My vision had cleared just in time for me to dodge another attack, the rod had smashed right through a wall. "Stop moving so much!" I charged my sword up. I wasn't planning on using too much SP but enough to do damage. Avoiding its rod, I launched the Ocean's stream at him. The demon opened its mouth and chomped down on my attack. "That's not even fair!" Ocean's stream wasn't going to cut nor were physical skills, maybe Ocean's stream can work, I just need to gain a better opening...

"Kazuki-bro, what's the matter," Ko yelled "I'm trying to come up with a distraction! Got any ideas?" "Not really! Wait, I think I do!" Ko rummaged his pocket, he pulled something out. It was a candy bar. I saw the demon's nose twitching. "That smell, it smells delicious!" I see, using food as a distraction, why did I think of that (is the candy bar really that good?). "Ko, throw it!" "Right!" He reeled back his arm and positioned himself like a baseball player. He then tried to throw the bar, but...

"..." "..." The wind went by, it being the only thing making noise. "Ko, what the hell was that," I yelled. "I threw it!" "No, you didn't, that was like dramatically dropping it!" "I'm sorry, I'm not meant for throwing, only support!" He was only able to throw the candy like a foot in front of himself. I ran over to him, I grabbed the candy bar and threw it to the side of the demon. It had reached its hand for the bar, I could damage it now. I charged up another stream attack, I aimed the attack carefully. And before it could pull its arm back, I launched the attack. It had sliced through its arm, it fell hard to the ground, making a quaking sensation.

"ARGGGGHHHHH!" The demon was shaking and rocking in pain, it was yelling loud enough to break my eardrums. "THAT HURTS!?" It swiped its other hand, its claws sparking. I tried to dodge it but the claw hit my leg. "Gah!" I felt my body tense up as if my muscles were strapped down; I couldn't move my body. "Bro, you've been paralyzed," Ko diagnosed. "I know, just-" The rod had made contact to the side of my body, it had crashed my body between it and the wall. I had my persona cover my back to soften the impact. I still couldn't move, and if I still can't I'll be in for a world of hurt. "I'll make sure to eat you before you die!" He thrust his staff in the hole again. I had Skeith guard me but it broke when the rod hit. It kept this up for a minute now, it was still painful to have Skeith guard the attack, but at least the damage was cut in half. After a while, I couldn't gather the energy to summon anymore...

"Now, time to dig in." It reached its hand inside the hole, it pulled me out of it. "*Sniff* *Sniff* Funny, you smell great but you aren't the smell I was looking for, albeit, you'll do..." It opened its mouth wide. *Thump* "Hm?" I heard something hit the demon, it was Ko and he was throwing pebbles at it. "L-let him g-g-go!" He was quivering like crazy, knowing that this monster could kill him. Did you hear me, I said let him go," he stammered on. "*sniff* *Sniff* ..You! You're the delicious scent." He let go of me, opping out for Ko. "Get away from him, you bastard," I weakly said. "I'll gobble you up, nice and slow; savor the flavor." He reached his arm for Ko. I mustered all my strength to just get up, even then, I don't think I would have enough energy to do much. "Ko, run!" "I can't abandon you, bro!" "Damn it Ko, just run!" The monster grabbed ahold of Ko, lifting him to the air. "Ko!" "This'll be great, I can't wait!" His body was shaking due to its laughter. I can't just sit here and do nothing, I can't just let him die like this!

"Ko, you're gonna be angry at me for this, but..." I needed to save him, I needed to use Shadow-mog...! As I heard Ko's yelling, I tried to switch on Shadow-mog, gathering all the energy I need, going through my process... *Ice shattering* "ARGGH!" The demon suddenly cried out in pain. I saw sparkles of ice falling from the sky. "Javelin rain!" I heard someone yell an attack name. There were multiple energy spears that made contact to the demons face. With all that damage, the demon let go of Ko. With adrenalin kicking in, I ran for where Ko was going to fall. I jumped to the air, catching Ko mid-air...

"Ko, are you okay?" "Mhm, but did you do that?" "No." I looked at the exit from the maze, I saw three people walking from the entrance. "You guys..." "Talk later, for now, we fight!" It was Ryota, Hisoka, and Hana. All three of them were able to get through the maze. "Ryota, do that move again," Hana commanded. "Sorry, but that takes a lot of energy out of me missy." "Got anything else then." "Hehe, I got one more trick up my sleeve." He clapped his hands together and a spark of energy came from his palms and it stretched out as he widened the gap between them. The shape the energy beam took was that of a spear. "Let's do this." Ryota ran towards the demon, he then turned his weapon around and threw it at the demon's head. "Extend!" The spear got longer in length, making it hit the demon before it could react.

"Bro, I need to heal you." "Make it quick it quick Ko!"

Horkos swung his rod at Ryota. He blocked the attack but the impact must've shaken him up. "That was a good one, my turn! Hana, launch me!" She used her earth magic to push him up from the ground. He changed the shape of his sword into a bastard sword-shaped beam. The demon lifted its staff to its face to guard against him. Ryota slammed his sword against the rod, the impact was heavy and the shockwave it made was enormous; it was like a giant explosion...!

"Holy shi-" Something else made tremor on the ground. It was one half of Horko's rod. "So cool," I said to myself. Ryota landed on the ground, rolling backward. "That was pretty decent, let me give it a try," Hisoka declared. He took a stance, lowering his hand to the ground. He then raised his arm towards the sky, a giant pillar of ice flew forward from below the demon. It had hit its stomach, the ice pillar had crushed the demon against the door.

"Bunon! This hurts, this-" "Persona!" I sent out Skeith, had it aiming its fist for the head. "Gigantic fist!" The fist smashed against its head, making a loud echo sound. That was only the beginning of my onslaught. "Yo, Skeith, give him a beat down." As commanded, skeith began to bring a downpour of punches, each one louder than the last...

"Hmm... Did that do it?" "B-b-b-buono..." "Nope, I guess we need one more punch to settle." "God, stop dragging this out," Hisoka peevishly demanded. He jumped on the demon and quickly ran up on it, reaching its head...

"This is how you make sure they never get back up..." He raised his sword, turning the sword from the back of the sword to the blade. He swiftly swiped his sword through Horko's neck. I felt a slight breeze, too cold, it did, however, send a chill down my spine. It also did have a sort off...feeling to it.

"...For insurance." He pushed his palm forward towards the demon. "Now die!" Ice came shooting out from his hand, the enormous block of ice smashed at the demon's body, stabbing through, slamming it to the ground and the door behind it... The demon began to disintegrate, turning into black ooze like it was a shadow... After the shadow dissolved into nothing, Hisoka broke down his ice with a touch of his fingertips. The ice formed into tiny crystal snowflakes, they were beautiful to look at; Ko tried to catch some but failed to realize they were too small for him to catch.

"That was the boss, consider me unimpressed," Hisoka stated. "Maybe we were a bit too strong for him," Ryota stated. "Either way, it was a pathetic fight. And you." Hisoka pointed to me. He's probably pissed that I ran off on my own. "...How did you let such a worthless monster be able to cause you this much damage?" "Um, cause it was stronger than me." I could've used Shadow-mog could've pulverized it if I wanted to...

"Whatever, you're D-rate then." "Huh, D? What does that mean?" D-rated fighter, that's what I mean." I balled up my hands, a sudden ting of anger surfaced. "Hey, I did pretty fine before this demon!" "Do you mean with the Matador demon?" Hisoka questioned, no, more or less pointed out. "Wait, you saw me fight that thing?" "Yes, I found you first, but when you were fighting that grim reaper, I saw how you handled it; it was a pathetic display of a fighter, expected for a D rank." "Does it really matter, as long as I have power, who cares how I fight." Hisoka didn't respond to my ideal, he just simply nodded his head. He walked past me, but he stopped. "...Those who solely rely on their power are the first to die. You'd best remember that if you want to live through this excursion..." He walked over to the ooze and picked something up from it, a key. "Looks like they weren't lying," Hana said as Hisoka held up the key...

"Kazuki-bro," Ko called to me, concern in his voice. "What's wrong bro?" "Nothing, I'm fine..." Relying on my power. Of course, I am, it's the only reason I'm alive right, I-I need it... *Sigh* What am I saying, I sound like a junkie. "No, you're right, you need this power to get through this place." "Do I? Maybe I'm okay the way I am. I mean, what type of power hurts you, sounds pretty shitty to me." "It wouldn't be like that if you just accept it fully, to accept me fully!" "Tch, get real, I'm never gonna do that. And if I were to, you would-" "...Fine, I get the hint, I'll back off for now, but we'll continue this at a later date..."

I heard a loud creaking sound, like gears beginning to rotate, grinding against each other. The giant door behind me opened...

"Kei, we need to move," Hana said. All these thoughts in my head need to be put aside, they're not important right now. "...Besides, it's not like I submitted to it or anything."

I looked straight at the door ahead of us. It was as dark as the entrance to the tower. Though, there was something different about this doorway. "Are these stars," Ryota asked. "Seems like it. Put my hand through it, there was a ticklish sensation to it when I put them through it. "Let's go." Everyone went through the door, and before I went through entirely, I stopped, my head turning around. I almost forgot about my bag. I tore myself out of the doorway and jogged to my bag...

"Almost forgot my bag." I threw it over my shoulder, ko shifted around to hop in the bag... "Ya ready Ko?" "Always, big bro!" I spun around, now facing the door. I was feeling good about this, good that I was making progress, now I'm one step closer to Fuuka...

The Tower, FL:?

I was testing my new powers, they were amazing, but... "This is bullshit." I sat down on the floor, trying to catch my breath.

"Yo, kid." That voice belonged to that M guy. Shady bastard. "What do you want, can't you see I'm busy?" "Hey, come on, don't give me the cold shoulder. And here I was, thinking we could have a dialogue... Well, thinking about it was my first mistake." The hooded bastard giggled to himself, it only serves to annoy me. "I don't think you heard me: I'm busy. So screw off!" "Aheheh, trust me, you don't want me to, at least, not yet. You would want to hear what I have to say first." "Then quit leading me on and spit it." M sat down in mid-air. "I want you to be a floor guardian." The offer didn't shock me, but it was surprising since it just came out of the blue. "Not interested." "You sure? You realize you'd be missing out on a chance to-" "Fight Kei Kazuki, I'd never miss an opportunity like that... But I don't need your help to do that."

I got up from the floor and made my way out of the training room. "Then what you gonna do," M asked, spinning around in mid-air as if he was on a real spinning chair. "What floor is he on now?" "Hmm, he just cleared the first floor, so he's bound to be on floor two." "Good, I have more time then." "...Time for what? Come on, tell me, I'm dying to see what you mean!" I chuckled aloud. "And ruined the surprise? No, but I will suggest you sit back, and watch the hell I'm gonna raise..."

I walked out of the training room, throwing my jacket back on. I wasn't gonna rely on that guy to set matchup between me and him; I need to earn it!

The Tower, FL:?, Hifumi's lab

I opened the door to my master's laboratory, quietly so I won't disturb him. I closed the door behind me just as quietly as I opened it.

"I'm back master!" "Welcome back Ichirou, how was your mission?" "Why ask such a question, you were watching with one of the Yatagarasu birds, weren't you?" He had those birds all over the tower and in the outside of it. Plus, he can see through them, he's nothing short of amazing! "Just simply thought you would've liked for me to ask how your mission went," master pointed out. "Oh, I see. You were trying to be considerate, you're so kind master," I merrily chirp.

"Master, I also have something else to ask." "Go ahead." "I was in the bandit country in the desert town, investigating a lead about a person wearing our mask." I lifted up a black mask. "Master, that bitch is here, isn't she," I bitterly stated, gripping the mask hard enough to cause a dent, which I did. "Ichirou." Master calling my name snapped me out of my raged induced state. I took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress my emotions.

"It's okay master, I'm fine now..." Master Hifumi turned around and walked over to me. "I know your anger towards her betrayal and I do not want you to forget that anger. However, do not allow it to cloud your judgment." "Of course, master, I'd never compromise your plans for her, no matter how much I hate her." I gave a light smile like I normally do. "Now, I want to run a few experiments for today." "Kay." Master lead deeper into his lab. I saw a picture of that woman on a nearby desk. I picked it up and I tore it in half. "Your time will come soon, Rin!"

The tower, FL 2, Daytime

We were trudging through a heap load of sand, my feet were sinking in the sand every so often. The second floor was a desert, but not like the one outside where there was just ruined buildings and some sand, but like a real desert. "Damn, it's so cold!" It was like winter hit hard, everyone else seemed unfazed by it. "Why are you guys so, chill about this (no pun)!" "Heh, cold nights are pretty often back home," Ryota reminisced. "Must sucks," I said. "Nah, it's great, it makes for a good way to build heat and cold resistance." Ryota seemed pretty proud of that fact. "Guys, we should bunker down for the night, I don't like walking out in a vast area like this at night," Hana suggested. "She's right, we have no idea what enemies are out here," Hisoka added. "Kay, but how do we set up camp in all this sand?" I didn't really see any good places to rest, and the sand wasn't looking promising. "That's where my earth magic comes in," Hana boasted, pumping her chest forward. "Is it something to be proud of," Hisoka asked. "Oh shut up."

She put her hands on the sand, trying to bury them deep in. "You guys might want to move back quite a distance. The sand might cave in." With the warning, the rest of us walked a few yards away from her... I still had my eyes on her and so far, she wasn't sinking into the floor. The ground began to rumble, quaking uncontrollably. "Is this woman causing an earthquake!" Hisoka stabbed his sword into the floor to support himself. I saw something coming out of the ground, it was covering my view of Hana... After a few seconds later, the quaking stopped.

"Is she done?" "Hopefully, any longer and she would made the sand all around us cave in." Ryota has a point, I felt like my feet were sinking in deeper into the floor. "Th-th-that was scary," Ko stammered as he was shaking himself, sinking back into my bag.

"Okay, guys, you come back now," Hana waved us over, acting as if she didn't hear that humongous tremor...

...

The shelter Hana made for us was big enough for more thirteen-fifteen other people. Hana was fast asleep, said something about following her recommended hours of sleep. The other guys were still awake. Hisoka was hugging his sword and Ryota was just chilling against the wall. It was pretty quiet in here. I wasn't really concerned with that right now. I had a picture of Fuuka, Shizuka and me at the summer festival...

"...Can I see that?" Ryota asked as he sat right next to me to look at the picture as well. "Wow, they're beautiful." "Yeah, they are." Kimonos' tend to do that for women. "Hey, is that the girl you're here for?" Ryota pointed to Fu-chan. "Yeah, I'm here for her, well, you probably already knew that." "Yeah, I heard the radio broadcast. And at first, I didn't know why it was a big deal. Not that I'm saying that she doesn't matter! All lives matter of course, and um-" "*Chuckling*" "What, what so funny," he panickingly asked me. "Nothing funny, you just reminded me of how she used to act around me, stammering, panicking over what she said in fear of it coming off the wrong way. She was pretty shy back then too, still kind of is now..." Memories of the past few months came flooding into my mind. "But really, what I said wasn't everything that is to her. She's a kind girl, honest to a fault, modest, smart, and overall: a great person. A great person that I was lucky to have, a person that I might have failed." "What do you mean?" I fiddled my feet inside my shoes. "I don't know if I can save her. I don't know if I'm strong enough on my own to even be able to." Of course, I have Shadow-mog but without it, I stand no chance in this place; even with my Persona...

"So what, you're giving up, you want to leave the tower?" "I don't want to, god, I want to just rush this thing and save her! But my brain keeps saying that I won't win, it knows that if I tried to fight anyone of those guardians like Horkos, I'm screwed!" I don't want to abandon her, and if I can't save, then I might as well die. "You're thinking the wrong way." "Hm? What do you mean?" "I mean, you're thinking with the wrong thing. The brain isn't what you should use for your feelings." "Then what do I use?" He jabbed his thumb to his chest. "My heart?" "Yeah, only that can truly decide on what you need to do. When it comes to matters of emotion, the heart will always give us our answer, so stop thinking about it with your head and just use your heart..."

I placed my hand on my heart, I could feel it beating. I know about thinking with your heart, but I never really took the term too seriously, in fact, I think it's kind of stupid, but maybe it's not as farfetched as it sounds...

"Still though, I think in terms of strength, I'm inadequate," I commented. "Maybe your right. But strength isn't the only way to win in a fight." Ryota got up from the floor. "Come on outside for a moment." "Why for?" "I'm gonna show you how to fight. Bring your sword." He then walked out into the raging storm. As I was asked, I grabbed my sword and I rushed outside...

"Okay, I'm out here, what are you going to show me?" "Not gonna show anything, we're fighting!" Ryota made a beam greatsword. "W-wait, why for!?" He charged for me, holding his sword over his shoulder. He swung his sword vertically I ducked down, then I rolled back away from him. Just as I turned my head, I saw his sword darting for me, I dodged it by balancing myself on one knee. But my balance wasn't perfect, so I fell back on my back. I want to recoil back up, but I had a beam sword to my shoulder...

"Ahh." "Geez, that was actually pretty bad," Ryota pointed out, not holding back on my performance. "Well I didn't know were fighting nor did I know you were gonna throw a sword at me!" "You need to expect the unexpected in a battle. This is a basic principle for a soldier on the battlefield." He made another beam sword. "Come on, we're doing this again," he announced, taking a battle stance. "You gotta be kidding me, what's the point of this?" "The point is to bring out your hidden potential." "So attacking me is the way to get that potential out?" "Yep, some intense sparring session or two will help you at least build upon some type of skill. We'll be going at this all night." "All night, why the hell should I do that?"

Ryto stabbed his sword in the sand. "Listen, I know that it sounds like a pain, hell, continuously fighting for even one night straight is hard, but that hard work is what you need to go through to get stronger. If your weak and you have no talent for fighting, then you need to bring more than 100%, you need to bring 200% more!" "What if I-" Something hit my head quick and hard. "Ahhh! What the hell was that!?" "I was only doing what he was going to do."

He then took out his sword. "Now hurry up and get off from the ground." "You want to fight too?" "It's not like I want to, if we're gonna make a fraction better than you were earlier, than I'll help as well." "Why do you wanna help me? Thought you said I was a D-rank or whatever the hell?" "You still are, but if I were to raise that to C, it might up our chances on survival. I know this place is dangerous, going off by myself on the first floor was a poor choice, the reaper I fought was powerful and it was meant to take on people who were alone..." He took a stance. "Use your sword to block and attack, and you can only use your sword." "Um, okay..."

...

It was a couple of hours since we started this all night training session. I was beginning to handle my own against Ryota and Hisoka, but they were still beating me in the end...

"Hey, can we take a break, I kind of need it," I said in between short breaths. "Yeah, I guess working you ragged is a bad idea." Ryota let go of his sword and sat down on the sand. "What do ya say Hisoka, up for a break?" "Hmpf, I guess taking a short break won't hurt." Hisoka sheathed his sword and sat across from Ryota. "Finally, a break!" I dropped to the ground like a bag full of bricks.

"Stop looking at me, I don't like it when gorillas look at me." "I'm no damn gorilla, I'm a soldier!" "Since when?" "Since always!" Ryota grinded his teeth while Hisoka acted like he said nothing at all...

"So how do the two of you know each other," I asked, resting my head on my hand. "We known each other since we were kids. We were apart of the desert hounds at the time," Hisoka answered. "Oh yeah, I remember that day, you challenged me to a fight and I beat you by a mile." Hisoka pointed his finger at Ryota. "Wrong! I was the one who one that day. I put you in a sleeper hold, and in mere seconds you crying like a baby." "I-I don't remember that." "Yes you, after that, you begged me to never tell a soul, and just so you wouldn't cry again, I said I wouldn't." "Wait, did you tell anyone else?" "Of course I did." "What the hell, no wonder master was pissed at me that night." Master? "You have a master," I asked. "Of course I did. She was the best. She was the leader of the Desert hounds. She was strict but fair, she was hard as nails and was the best soldier I've ever seen..." He continued to go on about his master and the Desert hounds; DS for short. The DS was a paramilitary group that belonged to Mr. Arata (the guy with the camera). He would have them handle an array of different tasks: killing demons, study on the tower, and in general were used to one day become a strong unit that would invade the tower. And his master sounded like the "no-nonsense" type of person, but motherly towards her team. He made some of his experiences with her come off as hard, but fun in a certain way. Although, I didn't know if it was just me but when he was talking and even after he was done, there was this underlining sadness.

Ryota lifted himself off the floor. "That's enough of a break, let's continue." "Shame, I was enjoying talking about our wonderful youth." "Yeah right, you were gonna probably tell him about my crush on Pixie next, weren't you?" "I was, but now I don't need to." Ryota covered his mouth, cursing against his hands which came out muffled. "Heheh, wait, you have a crush on Pixie? As in the demon?" "Shut up, I was twelve!" "What happened, didn't work out," I asked, laughter following shortly after. "He asked her out one day. The second he asked it on a date, it said: I don't date runts." A burst of laughter came after that, Hisoka was giggling a little bit. "That wasn't funny, I was really hurt from that." "That's the funny part."

He spawned a sword, he swung it in front of our faces. "C-come on already! Let's just fight!" Hisoka got up from the floor, stretching his arms and legs. "Come on Kazuki, you're going up against me now," Hisoka told me. "Fine by me, I think my muscles are beginning to warm up to this! Besides, I need to prove that I'm at least worth a C-rank warrior." "You can try, but I won't make it easy for you I got up from the floor, buckling my sword next to my waste. I took the time to study Hisoka's stance. I buckled my knees down, I put my right hand on the hilt of my sword...

"Alright, are you guys ready," Ryota asked. We both nodded at him. "In that case, three, two, one...fight!"

The tower, FL:2, one day until execution

By the time it was morning, the sun was beaming down on me, it's heat making me feel worse than I already am. The sweat was too much, I had to take off all my jackets and roll up my suit shirt's sleeves... I was trying desperately to catch some rest... I lifted myself up, still feeling drowsy.

"*Yawn* God, I feel lousy." "This is what you get for staying up all night," Ko told me. "Yeah...I guess." "So, are you done resting now? Everyone else is waiting." "Yeah, I know Ko. Let's get going." I picked up my bag and set out from the cave. My hands were killing me ever since last night, I think I had blisters on them. "Ko, can you heal this?" "Well, they're not wounds, but I can ease the pain." Ko went to work on healing my hands. I met up with everyone outside, Hana and Hisoka seeming to be dry out of patience. "Finally," she spat out. "Sorry, I was just a bit tired is all. Um, where's Ryota?" I looked around, I found him sleeping against the cave wall, snoring loudly... Hisoka was poking him with the butt of his sword on his face. "Hey, let me give it a swing, waking up boys requires a delicate touch..."

Hana crouched down in front of Ryota, she then tugged his ear. The second she did that, Ryota woke up, jumping up from the floor like he was a jack in the box.

"That hurt!" "For a warrior, you sure are a baby," Hana stated. "Doesn't mean I'm impervious to pain." While Ryota complained to Hana about his ear, Hisoka bumped me on my shoulder. "Take a look up there." I looked up at the sky, there were clouds circling around something. "What is that?" "I have no idea, but I think it might be where we need to go." "Will it be safe to travel there?" "Most likely, if there was gonna be a sandstorm, the wind would be blowing stronger right now, so I think we'll be fine for a time..."

I adjusted my bag a bit, trying to find a comfortable spot for my back. "Let's get going," I said, raising my voice to get the others attention. My hands were still feeling a bit sore, but I can now at least use them now...

...

We were kilometers away from the cave, we had been walking in the desert for nearly 39-40 minutes now. The sun was beating me with its heat. I was forced to wear my Gekkoukan jacket over my head, while it had little effect fending off the sun, it wasn't enough...

"So...hot. I think...I'm gonna pass out." "Chin up, it's not that bad," Hana jeered. "Are you kidding me, this more than summer heat, this is nightmare heat!" "Hm, what's summer?" "Yeah, I heard you say that word before, what is it?" Ryota and Hana asked, looking back at me with curiosity written on their faces. "Oh, well, summer is basically a season over a year. It becomes much hotter than it would be during any other season in the year, and honestly, it sucks. But during that time, we get one month off from school, so really, that's an even trade for dealing with the heat. Oh, also there's the summer festivals, those are the best parts. I used to go with my cousin to them all the time... Although, whenever he took me to one, people would stare at us, well, more at me than him..."

People would look at me like I was some sort of freak back then. I understand why now, but it was unfair, it unfair that I was the one who needed to be alienated. Even after all this time, even when I was accepted somewhere it still haunts me. You can say that I still hate that town.

"Sandstorm!" The sudden warning threw me out of my thoughts, forcing me back into reality. I saw a massive cloud of sand heading for us a breakneck speed. "Everyone, huddle together!" We all got together when the sandstorm hit. The sand was towards my face like tiny little pebbles. I could hear the wind howling as if it were a demon. "Damn, this storm is rough! I can barely see anything," Ryota muffled, he was covering his mouth and his eyes with one hand. "Kazuki-bro, you want me to help?" "Ko, don't come out, you just get sand in your eyes."

I squinted my eyes open just a tad bit to see... I saw something in the distance, a figure. The figure came closer and closer until I saw who it was. It was Fuuka." Her teal hair was a dead give away, she was still wearing her Gekkoukan outfit. "F...Fu-chan?" She retreated back into the storm. "Wait, don't go!" I ran after her, I heard the others calling me back, but I wasn't going back, not when I'm this close...

The tower, FL:?,?

I was waiting outside of the teal girl's cell... "Excuse me, M, sir!" "Yes, what is it?" "We confirmed that the target took the bait." "Good, you're dismissed." The rando soldier bowed before leaving... Well, guess it's time to handle my part of the deal. I opened the door to teal's cell...

"How are you doing, I hope your second day here was pleasant because tomorrow will be your final day here," I sneered, trying to get some rise out of her, but like Arisato, I'm getting the silent treatment. "Geez, you teenagers nowadays are too serious. You need to learn how to have some fun, life is short, you know..." She still didn't say anything, looking away from me and at a wall. "Fine, let's skip to the jokes and get to the good stuff." I walked over to the wall, I was able to see her face now. She was looking kind of pale than when I saw her last time, but not enough to be considered serious. She must've not been eating properly, or at all...

"Before we get to the main topic, tell me how far you got?" She looked at me with a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about." "You're a terrible liar..." I placed my hand on a small crack on the wall. "This cell is supposed to keep you from using your powers, actually, that's wrong. It's more or less stopping you from going past a certain radiance from the door. However, if this cell were to, I don't know, have a small crack in it, you'd be able to use your Persona to look around further from this whole palace and into the city, but you already did, didn't you?"

She turned her gaze away from, solidifying that she did. "So, again: how far did you get?" I saw her lips moving but I couldn't hear her. "Huh, what was that, couldn't hear you?" "I said I found the entrance to this world." Damn, she mapped this place out quickly. I only noticed she was doing this when I felt like I was being watched during my tussle with Arisato and that robed guy. It was faint but I felt something roaming around, searching around...

"You know, that's pretty impressive, but enough about that, today, I want you to answer a question: why did you choose to come here?" She still didn't respond. I was expecting that. "...Oh, you aren't gonna tell me." I slammed my hand on the wall, using my gravity to destroy the wall. "Huh?" "Come on, we're going for a little ride downtown, hope you don't mind a few hops in the air, teal..."