Ann tentatively reached forward towards Ren's hand, her eyes flickering to his in an apparent request for permission. Ren gave no negative indication that Makoto could see, and apparently, neither did Ann see one. The tip of Ann's index finger reached Morgana's forehead.

"Mreow!" said Morgana in obvious appreciation.

Simultaneously, a subtle shiver ran through Ren's body. It didn't touch his face, and it was almost imperceptible to Makoto, but she was sure he reacted strongly to Ann's fleeting touch. That reaction, and with Ann touching him being the cause, abruptly made Makoto irritated and impatient, her mind suddenly simmering with anger.

"Then let's get to business, already," said Makoto, her sharp tone startling the Sakamotos, surprising herself, and drawing a curious gaze from Ren. Makoto's cheeks feeling hot, she cleared her throat softly.

"Mr. Morgana," said Makoto, feeling decidedly uneasy as Ren obligingly turned his palm to face her, Morgana's catlike eyes regarding her with what seemed eager benevolence. "I think the obvious first question is: how are these Persona's used?"

"They rely on cognition," said Morgana.

"Cogs?" said Ryuji. "Like the things inside a clock?"

"No, not like the things inside a clock!" said Morgana. "That's not even close to what I said!"

Makoto thought Ann looked a little confused, too, but she was biting her lip and not saying anything. Perhaps these two were not the most attentive of students, when they actually had time to be normal teenagers. Makoto, meanwhile, had been an excellent student ((or else, as Father had put it))

"Cognition," Makoto said, regaining everyone's attention. "Meaning: a mental action... Of some sort?"

"Hey, someone who speaks Japanese!" said Morgana with appreciation, and Ryuji gritted his teeth and almost said something, but caught an elbow from his sister instead.

Morgana continued: "Yes, a mental action. A persona is like a tool, which the persona-user can utilize through the commands of their minds. You think of what you want to do, and if the persona is capable of that action, it will attempt to do it."

Ann frowned. "But I've thought of all sorts of things to do, and I haven't been able to do anything like I did before."

"Well- there's more to it than that," said Morgana, "But that's the general concept."

Makoto remembered Ann being wreathed in flame, and both she and Ryuji were able to attack Kamoshida with their personas. "But Morgana, I saw them do very strange things with these persona, and both Ryuji and Ann expressed surprise at their ability to do them. If one must think of what they want to do, how could they do things they didn't even dream they could?"

"Well-" started Morgana.

"Yeah! How!?" said Ryuji"

Morgana sighed, but pressed on. "As Ren said: persona have a life of their own. A personality. They are capable of anticipating needs, interpreting desires, and operating somewhat automatically if the persona-user gives it orders ahead of time. So they must have read something in the minds of you two, and then did the best they could with that information."

The table was silent as they all considered that. Makoto found it interesting, but it seemed to be just theory. So far, Morgana had not provided any practical information on the use of these things.

"So…" said Ann, "How do we do it?"

Morgana hesitated. "It's- it's different for each persona. So, I don't exactly know how to use yours."

Ann and Ryuji's shoulders fell. Ryuji leaned back in his chair, arcing his head upward to look at the ceiling with a grimace. Makoto felt the same obvious frustration. Just when it seemed like they were going to learn something specific and useful, their source claimed ignorance.

But. Wait. If Morgana knew how to use his own persona, perhaps that information could be used to deduce what they needed to know.

"How do you use your persona, Morgana?" said Makoto.

Morgana seemed thoughtful. "I think about how I need to add or subtract air, and my Zorro does it."

"Zorro?" said Ann.

"My persona's name."

"They have names?" said Ryuji.

"Yes, it gets their attention and makes them expectant of a command."

"Otherwise," said Ren, breaking his silence. "They might activate and do things when people are just talking about doing something. Earlier versions of persona did not have that sort of… safety. People died."

That particular tidbit aroused Makoto's curiosity. Wherever Ren was from, he seemed somewhat educated in that place's history. This was not the first time he let out such a historical tidbit.

"People where? When?" said Makoto.

Ren's mouth went into a thin line. He never talked about his sources. Was he just making things up?

"The Empire, of course!" said Morgana.

Goosebumps went through Makoto's body. It wasn't a surprise, but so many childhood horror stories featured imperial horrors. One often found oneself thinking all of it was just some fairytale, and not that, in reality, the world was once entirely ruled by an empire of vampires. And humans were simply their cattle.

The Sakamotos also seemed pale, but Morgana blathered on, seemingly unaware of their reactions.

"Persona are not really weapons, see? They are tools to do things on a vast scale! For example, my Zorro was used to add or remove air in pipes, and that would move water all over farmlands and cities. For kilometers!"

"A pump," said Makoto, the connection suddenly jolting through her mind. "Your persona is- or was- a pump."

Morgana hesitated, then with false bravado said: "Exactly!"

Makoto's mind continued on its logical pathway: "So Morgana gives his persona orders that a pump would understand. Perhaps, if we figure what kind of tool Ryuji and Ann's personas are supposed to be, we can figure out how to command them. Oh! But we need to know their names!"

"Captain Kid," said Ryuji.

"Carmen," said Ann.

Makoto was taken aback. "How- how do you know that?"

Ryuji shrugged. "I dunno. I just do."

Ann nodded.

Strange. But that was one less thing to worry about. And Makoto supposed these persona were inside the Sakamotos, so there could be some sort of information exchange going on. There must be, in fact, if one fully believed Morgana's information about how persona worked. And why wouldn't they believe him? Who else would know?

But to the matter at hand. What kind of tools? Ryuji's seemed obvious to Makoto. She'd seen him in action.

"Ryuji, yours is surely a generator. It creates electrical energy."

"Electrical energy?" said Ryuji, slowly, apparently deep in thought.

"Electricity, moron," hissed Ann. "Like the lightbulbs in this house."

"Oh!" said Ryuji.

It was unlikely that the Sakamoto residence had electricity, so it was somewhat understandable that Ryuji wouldn't immediately make the connection. But then again, Ann had. And the words 'electrical energy' and 'electricity' were only different by a few letters….

As for Ann: in Kamoshida's Palace, Ann was able to manipulate fire. Or perhaps not exactly fire- But heat. What would use tons of heat? It must be like one of Ren's suggestions.

"Ann, I think Ren might have already identified yours. I think yours might be a smelter."

"A smelter?"

"Yes. It heats up ore and melts the metal out of rocks. From a mine. Or perhaps, it's a crucible."

"A crucible?"

"Like a big oven. It makes clay pots and things, or anything else that needs to get real hot to become what it is supposed to be."

Ann frowned in thought. "I guess I'll have to try some things…"

"So…" said Ryuji, "I just say: 'Captain Kid' and think about doing something like-"

"NO!" shouted Morgana.

KRA-KOOM!

Makoto realized she was lying on the ground, the hardwood floor cool upon her skin. Her vision was... Incomplete. A large, grey, fuzzy afterimage was everywhere she looked, and it remained even when she closed her eyelids. Her ears were ringing. The smell of burning wood and paper was overwhelming. She coughed, and tried to push herself up. She felt a firm hand support her back and pull her up to a sitting position. She squinted, the afterimage on her eyes starting to fade.

It was Ren cradling her, obvious concern on his face. A new sort of surprise, a strangely powerful and immediate… good surprise-feeling layed itself upon Makoto's confusion of how she wound up on the floor.

"Wha- what?" was all she managed to get out.

"Are you alright?" said Ren, his voice sounding muffled. Like he was at the other end of a pipe.

"What happened?"

"The moron activated his persona!" said Morgana, his voice even more muffled, as Ren's hand was being used as a hand, and thus the cat was not being pointed directly at anyone in particular.

Makoto couldn't see the rest of the room, her face cradled against Ren's chest. It felt firm with muscle and yet… pleasantly comfortable. She felt like she didn't want to move.

'Ann? Ryuji?" she said, her voice sounding distant and dreamy to her own ears.

Ren frowned. "I haven't checked."

That caused Makoto to jerk out of her own weird satiation. "What?! Why not!"

"I checked on you first."

"Oh, well-" Makoto felt a rush of warmth. Then concern for the Sakamotos brushed that immediately back away. "Help me up, then!"

Makoto found herself easily lifted to her feet. Her vision swam slightly, but then cleared further. The room was smokey, and the table- the library table was just… destroyed! It lay in several pieces, all with black-singed and smoking edges, and even from a glance, one could tell a large portion of the table's center was just plain gone. Vaporized, or something. The chairs were overturned nearby. Everyone seeming to have been thrust backward from the table when- when whatever happened had happened.

Ann and Ryuji were prone on the far side of the room. Ann was trying to sit up, but having a hard time of it. Makoto found her own balance and headed for Ann. Ren moved towards Ryuji, who was utterly still.

"Ann!" said Makoto, staggering into a kneeling position beside the struggling girl. "Are you-?"

Ann coughed. "I'm okay. I think."

She was blinking a lot. Probably suffering from the same afterimage that Makoto was. But the girl didn't seem to have any wounds. Meanwhile: Ryuji?

"This moron is just sleeping," was Morgana's disgusted verdict. "He'll probably sleep for a long time."

"What happened?" said Makoto.

"He used his persona," said Morgana, now helpfully turned towards Makoto and Ann by Ren. "He activated it at full power and the persona took as much as it could without killing him. His body will need to replace what he used up."

"Used up? Used what up?" said Ann.

"His blood," said Ren. "Personas are powered by blood."

Disgust roiled through Makoto's already troubled stomach. Blood. Of course, they used blood. Devoured it, apparently. These personas were created by vampires, after all.