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Marie awoke in her human apartment with what was definitely not a human migraine. She went to splash water on her face and found to her dismay that one of her eyes had turned pickle-green again. Something disturbing was happening. Yu had to know!

Oh, wait. Yu had left Inaba, along with everyone else. Something about a castle party at the beach...no, a beach party at a castle? Whatever it was, he wasn't here and Marie still hadn't figured out the phelltone so she couldn't get in contact with him! Now what was she supposed to do? She pulled open the curtains to make sure it wasn't raining and was met with a ghastly sight.

Another tower? Why were there so many towers lately? And why were they all ugly? Not that a pretty tower would have helped – Inaba didn't have any towers in the first place.

Something at the top of the tower flashed, a blindingly bright light sending waves of pain through Marie's empowered eye and straight up to her brain until she keeled over. When it passed and she stood upright once more...the tower was gone. Everything looked perfectly normal and boring. She ran to the mirror, and found that both of her eyes looked human and boring again. What was going on?

Marie hastily got dressed and ran downtown (such as it was) to the mostly abandoned shopping district, hoping she was wrong and right at the same time. Sure enough, nestled among the ripoff machines and closed stores was a familiar blue door.

"OPEN UP, NOSE!" Marie pounded on the door with both fists. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW, I'LL...I'LL…"

Fortunately she didn't need to come up with empty threats, because the door clicked open, allowing her to shove her way inside.

Kanji did not return to the beach until later that afternoon, so Naoto didn't get a chance to apologize for...well, she wasn't sure what. The collective actions of her friends, she supposed. She tugged the hem of her coverup for what must have been the hundredth time and vowed revenge on whoever invented swimwear.

Most of the boys had made themselves scarce for reasons that had Akihiko looking over his shoulder worriedly, so the remaining crowd was mostly girls. Naoto finally felt secure enough to take cover under a beach umbrella and relax to some extent. She had to admit that it was nice to get away from one's duties every now and again. Everyone's moods seemed to be much brighter. Nanako ran blissfully through the waves, laughing and cheering as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Was I ever like that?

She had to have been at some point...didn't she?

Mitsuru had gone back up to the beach house to discuss something with a maid – perhaps the coveted boxed lunches – and she had somehow timed her return with the sun breaking through the clouds. It was like watching one of Rise's sentimental dramas. But Mitsuru never clamored for the attention she received (chiefly from Akihiko, who had been too distracted to move out of the path of a tremendous wave and was quite literally swept off his feet). She seemed just as home in a bikini as she did in a catsuit or a torn petticoat and partially-exposed slip. What was it like to be comfortable in your own skin?

"Don't you just hate her?" Rise had slipped under the umbrella without her noticing.

"On some level, partially," Naoto replied before she could censor herself.

Rise allowed her jaw to drop comically. "Rrreow, Naoto-kun!" Naoto instinctively reached for the brim of her hat before remembering that she wasn't wearing one. "I mean, I'm sure she's used to that, but it's not like you have anything to worry about!"

Please do not jab me in the chest-

She jabbed Naoto in the chest.

Oh, for crying out loud!

"I am not in any unspoken competition with Mitsuru-san, Rise-san. We are both consummate professionals in our respective fields. We just so happen to have dealt with the same issues in vastly different ways, which constantly intrigues me."

"So, ask her how she works with boobs."

Sadly, Naoto had also left her gun behind. "That's...this is not a discussion I'd planned to have on a beach chair with sand between my toes." Fortunately, Mitsuru was oblivious to the fact that she was being discussed, attempting to talk to Yukari, but meeting only resistance. "Or at all, really." It was hardly Mitsuru's fault that she'd been born with self-confidence. Besides, they had first been introduced when Naoto was investigating the Kirijo Group for Public Safety. They worked together on a business level. It wasn't as if they were friends.

"BOXED LUNCHES!" Nanako was running laps around the sandcastle as Koromaru attempted to keep up with her. "Rise-chan, Naoto-kun! Do you want some lunch?" She didn't stay put for the answer. "Where did all the boys go?"

"Really thought we'd hear some screaming by now…" Akihiko was muttering to himself. "Must be that Wild Card luck again."

"Labrys, would you go find out what's keeping them?" Mitsuru now looked worried as well.

"They better not bring back another "tank" that's all I'm saying", added Akihiko.

The suspected shouting did ring out, along with a hail of buckets that seemed painfully familiar. Sure enough, the boys came screaming up the coastline, red-faced and bruised. Labrys followed carrying both Teddie and Junpei, and they could hear her chastising them.

"...thinking with your shorts! What the hell's wrong with you?" she yelled. "All these people are rich! That means they can afford a good lawyer!"

"Called it." Akihiko smirked.

"Everything was going according to plan until THIS CLOWN screwed it up!" Junpei protested.

Teddie was the only boy who didn't seem terrified. "You're just jealous because I was winning!" he insisted, "I scored the most beach blanket beauties!"

"THOSE GIRLS WERE UNDERAGE, NIMROD!" Labrys fumed. She dropped both him and Junpei face down in the sand.

"Senpai? What were you doing?" Rise had made a beeline for Yu as usual, but pulled back upon hearing the word "girls".

"Making a huge mistake," Yu couldn't meet her eyes. Kanji, Yosuke, and Ken all had the same expression.

The shoe dropped for everyone, but it was Yukari who reacted first. "Oh my god, were you making a game out of trolling for girls?! Stupei, were you born without a brain?" She appeared to be right on both counts.

Naoto had no idea why the idea of Kanji trying to hit on strange girls on the beach gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she was going to have to refuse that boxed lunch.

The other girls seemed to share the same sentiment. "Why would you even do something like that?" Yukiko asked. "What was the point?"

"Bragging rights and free ramen," said Akihiko. He had clearly participated in this before...to Mitsuru's shock and sadness.

"I am absolutely disgusted with all of you," Mitsuru lectured, "and extremely disappointed in you, Amada. I would not have expected such behavior from you of all people."

"I only went to stave off trouble!" Ken insisted. "But there were too many of them for just me." Koromaru whined. "Nah, it's not your fault, boy. You were looking out for everyone else."

Mitsuru turned now to Akihiko, who had not earned his position of authoritative scorn. "You knew this was going on the entire time-"

"-I thought that was what they were doing! Note that they didn't actually mention anything to me-"

"-and you did nothing," she concluded, "To save your own skin."

"How the hell is any of this MY fault?" Akihiko was not taking this lying down. "Maybe you should stop inviting teenagers to the beach and expecting a business meeting to take place."

"Perhaps I should also stop assuming there are more responsible adults among us."

For once, Yukari was on the same page. "You're just as bad as the rest of them, Senpai!"

"YEP! That's me! A lousy guy – just like Junpei and Teddie Teddie...and Makoto!" This froze the entire party. Akihiko had aimed directly for the weakest link. "Surprised? Who do you think won the last one?" he asked. When he received no answer, he stormed off, no doubt wishing he could conjure up an actual storm. He definitely left a few clouds behind.

Margaret appeared to be right on track with her observation that Wild Cards were man-whores.

Akihiko hadn't really expected so much drama at Yakushima this time. This may have been proof that he was an idiot. Teenage boys on the beach would always mean Operation Babe Hunt. So maybe he did abstain in order to stay out of trouble. Wasn't that a sign of maturity? Since when was he in charge of all the boys? Junpei didn't even call him "senpai" anymore!

At least some of them were having a good time. Nanako loved the beach and the boxed lunches and everything everyone pointed out to her. Ken was almost acting his age. Even Yosuke took some time out from teasing Kanji, Naoto, and Chie to personally thank Mitsuru for what was apparently the best birthday he'd had in a while. Koromaru "said" that he was overjoyed to have all of his friends in one place and perfectly willing to spill food. If it wasn't for the circumstances that brought them together, this would've been a great vacation. Still, doubts lingered in Akihiko's mind. He had little faith left in his own plan. He'd been hoping to get the Shadow Operatives to sit down and talk to each other, but there were just enough Investigation Team members to keep them all occupied, so it never happened. Maybe he could lock them in the butler's pantry two at a time until they hashed it out.

The one relationship that had been in good shape when they got here, however, was now threatening to come loose – and that was his fault. The moment Mitsuru got angry at him, he threw Makoto in her face again. That was always going to be his gut reaction, wasn't it? He'd really thought he was over it, but the idea that all the girls still canonized their leader while bashing the other guys had hurt more than he cared to admit.

Better practice what he'd been preaching and go talk to her.

Mitsuru had disappeared after lunch (which she at least ate – Akihiko had been worried she would start living on tea again), so the sun was beginning to set by the time he found her by a little crop of tide pools close to the house. She looked too contemplative for her own good, idly watching grains of sand fall from her fingers as if she were counting them. He didn't think she could sense him coming anymore until she spoke.

"You don't need to get my express permission to ask for anything," she said.

"Yeah, I know." Akihiko'd come a long way from being terrified to even speak to the servants, who he felt outclassed him, to commiserating with them in their servitude. Shinji had laughed at him, but they were amused by this guy who kept saying "please" and "thank you" to them. He was pretty sure Mitsuru had told them to accept orders from him as well, but he tried not to get too comfortable with that. "I just wanted to know if you wanted any watermelon before the kids ate it all. It was like a feeding frenzy; they went nuts. You'd think they'd never smashed a watermelon before."

She appeared to have noticed him rinsing his hands in the surf. Her eyes narrowed. "You punched a watermelon, didn't you?"

"Couple of 'em." Was that a smile she was biting back? "Okay, when you say it, it sounds kind of stupid..."

"Was the watermelon making unsavory comments about your mother?"

"No," Akihiko pouted. Was he really that predictable? But he had her! It was a smile! She even looked like she was trying not to chuckle! "The little one, though, he was checking you out. I wasn't going to stand for that."

Mitsuru finally let the laugh free. "I don't believe I've ever been ogled by a watermelon before." Then she pulled a face. "I've certainly never uttered a sentence like that before."

Now it was Akihiko's turn to hold back the first thing that popped into his head. "There's a joke here somewhere, and I think Shinji's the one making it."

He accepted the slap Mitsuru gave him as she sauntered by – but something or someone made him retaliate by splashing her, and it was like a call to arms. Even when nobody was speaking, Mitsuru had to have the last word. And after his defeat at the bowling alley, Akihiko was determined to get the upper hand this time. She ran, and he gave chase without a moment's thought.

Time to hunt his own babe.

All in all, it had been a great evening. Nanako finally got her smashed watermelon, and everyone was there to witness a pod of dolphins surfacing on their way home. Yu hadn't felt this at peace with his friends since the ski trip. It reaffirmed his belief in bonds and the freedom in making your own family of choice. He'd missed these people and the meaning they gave his life.

The Shadow Operatives seemed to be afraid to search for their lost bonds, a fact that really saddened him. From what he understood, Shadow-hunting had been like a job for them, something they had to do because they were the only ones who could do it. They only lived together because it made for a convenient cover story with school and the public. Personas brought them together. Friendship was secondary. But they'd all agreed to work for Mitsuru now, even when they had their own lives to lead. Didn't that mean they were friends?

He hadn't realized how contemplative he was being until Nanako voiced her concerns as he was putting her to bed. "Have we been good guests, Big Bro?"

"I think so. We haven't broken anything. No one's called the police on us...yet." If someone didn't keep an eye on Teddie, though, who knows what could happen.

"But Mitsuru-san still seems sad."

"Being an adult is hard." Yu struggled to come up with an explanation that would make sense to her. "A day at the beach can't always fix things." Nanako didn't look like she was going to get to sleep with this weighing her down, so he quickly added, "Why don't you ask her about the house tomorrow? She lived here as a kid. Maybe there are surprises you haven't found yet."

"Oh! You mean like secret passages?"

"This could be a job for Detective Loveline."

Nanako giggled into her pillow. "I'm on the case!" Hopefully, that would sustain her. Now all he had to do was make sure Mitsuru was willing to indulge her tomorrow.

The two teams had a roaring campfire going when he returned to the beach, but neither Mitsuru nor Akihiko were present. Yukari was doing her best to look as if she wasn't affected as she chatted with Rise. Even from a distance, Yu could tell that the idol was pulling out all the stops to keep the mood high. She always considered it her problem when someone wasn't cheerful, and was personally affronted when her charm failed to boost morale.

Who boosted Rise's morale, he wondered?

Silly question, really. He knew what the answer was when he approached the group.

"Arf!"

"Yu-kun's back!" Koromaru and Labrys spotted him first.

"Senpaiiii!" Rise chirped, "You're just in time for the game." Oh, dear god. That look in her eyes was NOT good! "Guess what it is?"

She leaned forward. Yu leaned backwards. "Marshmallow jousting?" he said cautiously. Please don't say what I think you're going to say!

"No, but aww, that does sound kind of fun."

"Yeah, can we do that instead?" asked Yosuke.

"Yeah, c'mon, Rise-chan, none of us voted for-" Chie, don't, PLEASE don't! "-the King's Game again!" Those three little words sent a chill down Yu's spine. That "game" ought to be illegal.

Yukiko of all people seemed eager. "But it was fun!" When Chie gave her the most disgusted look he'd ever seen, she recoiled. "Wasn't it?"

"Yukiko-senpai," Was Naoto sweating? "I don't think your memories of that evening are...reliable."

Kanji helpfully translated. "You were shitfaced drunk and there wasn't even any booze."

"Oh." This did nothing to dampen Yukiko's mood. "Did I win, though?"

"Why?" Yu could only shake his head. "Why won't that game die?" And why are the two people most eager to play it the two people who have their eye on me?

The Shadow Operatives apparently hadn't played the game, but their reactions were just as mixed. "I dunno, it sounds like fun," said Junpei.

"Wait, I think I've heard about this before." Yukari wasn't that confident. "There are wrap parties where they play the King's Game and it gets really out of hand."

"Also, if there's alcohol involved, I don't think I want any part of this," said Ken.

"There wasn't any alcohol involved to begin with," Naoto explained to him, "a fact which I explained several times to all participants – though they didn't listen." Yu was pretty sure she only mentioned it once, but anything that nipped this sadistic little game in the bud was more than welcome.

"Maybe we shouldn't commit to any games until we can ask Senpai." Fuuka took the easy way out.

Yu couldn't resist teasing her. "Not even marshmallow jousting?"

"Leaning pretty hard on that one, aren't you, Partner?" Yosuke quipped.

Yu would have retorted, but a high-pitched squeal had everyone leaping up in alarm.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Rise was in front of him, so that left...

"Senpai?" Yukari had forgotten to be angry in the event that Mitsuru was once again in distress.

"Stopstopstopstopstop! Aaaakihiko…!" They found the not-couple tussling on the beach, with Mitsuru red in the face shrieking with laughter, but in no danger of anything except eating sand. She was struggling to get away from Akihiko as he held onto one of her legs, tickling her foot.

"Ha-ha! Next time you wanna kick somebody, make sure you're wearing boots!" laughed Akihiko as he mercilessly teased her. "What'cha gonna do now, huh? Now what? I've got you now!" He grabbed hold of her and she curled into a ball of giggles.

"No fair!" said Mitsuru, swinging ineffectually at him.

"I've never seen them play like that." Fuuka looked much happier than the last time they found Mitsuru screaming.

"Humans are really ticklish, aren't they?" Labrys observed.

"I GIVE UP! I YIELD!" They watched as Mitsuru desperately tried to get away.

"I'll let you go on one condition," said Akihiko.

"What? WHAT?"

"Say, 'I'm an idiot'."

Mitsuru waited until he let her stand before smirking. "You're an idiot."

"BZZZZT! Wrong answer!"

"NOOOOOO!"

But it was too late. Akihiko had picked Mitsuru up and slung her over his shoulder, caveman-style. Mitsuru was beating her fists against his chest, but someone as muscular as Akihiko could barely feel it. "Again with that side – what, is that your favorite pec?" he laughed.

"I think it's safe to say Akihiko-san won this round of Babe Hunt," sighed Junpei.

"It hurts to see someone else living out your dreams," Teddie added.

They had finally noticed the others. "Oh, HEY, GUYS!" Akihiko punctuated his greeting by swinging around abruptly, sending Mitsuru's hair flying.

"Aaah!"

"It's amazing what you can find on the beach, isn't it? Look, I found this cold fish!"

"Hmph!" Mitsuru took so much offense to his pun that she hit the first area she could reach – his ass. Akihiko was not expecting that at all, and he nearly dropped her in his embarrassment.

"Again, I have to wonder – should we be watching this?" Ken asked no one in particular.

Yukari didn't find the situation very funny. "Is anyone going to be mature today?"

"WHAT'S THAT, Yukari?" Akihiko swung back around, tossing Mitsuru as if she were a pizza.

"Stoooop, I'm going to be sick!" Mitsuru had also stopped laughing.

"Okay, everybody's gettin' outta control. We're gonna get kicked off the beach." Labrys was a good Student Council President. "Let's stop horsin' around before someone gets hurt, huh?"

Akihiko didn't seem to like his fun being canceled, and he began mocking Labrys in an exaggerated impression of her already outlandish accent. "Oh, yeah, ya don't wanna hafta do not'in' with some-a dat dere horsin' around, y'know? Why, I oughta puncha right in da schnoz, ya wise guy! Ya joik!"

"I don't sound like that, ya big lug!" Labrys tried to refute him, but Akihiko had nailed her accent. "Huh. Guess I do, don't I?" At least she was a good sport about it, joining the others as they all laughed. Even Mitsuru had calmed down once Akihiko forgot about his onslaught and let her go.

When the fire went out, the laughter died with it.

It wasn't that it was suddenly very dark, that was normal, it was evening. No, the fact that the entire beach was now entirely quiet was the disturbing part. No water, no animals, just the erratic breathing of the people on the beach whose hearts had just skipped a beat and all immediately came to the same conclusion.

"This is the same vacation as before," said Junpei, "right down to the Da-" Yukari clamped a hand over his mouth before he could finish his sentence, directing his attention to Mitsuru who was beginning to panic.

Was this another Dark Hour? It couldn't possibly have been midnight yet; Nanako had just gone to bed! Furthermore, Mitsuru said that only the Kirijo Group had the tech to recreate one, and that was strictly for emergencies. Being tickled to death didn't count as an emergency – and Mitsuru looked just as clueless as the rest of them.

Well, if this was the Dark Hour, maybe he could try summoning his Persona? He held out a hand and tried imagining his Tarot card, only for Naoto to stop him the moment she caught on. Before he could protest, she pointed to the sky. Oh. The moon was its normal pale white color, meaning this wasn't a real Dark Hour. He remembered how the Team had freaked out when they saw it become a giant green egg. As Yu looked around more, he realized the water wasn't red, either. The world hadn't changed, and the Shadow Operatives were now murmuring to themselves, relieved but very confused.

"I smell something beary familiar.." said Teddie.

He must have blinked or zoned out for a second. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him, because one minute there was nothing there, and then something tore a hole in reality and Marie appeared, stumbling as she tried to regain her footing. It was like someone came in and Photochopped out an existing door, making Marie look like the best mime ever because she was shaking her fist at nothing and stopped dead as if her face had run into an invisible door.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THIS GROUND WAS SMOOSHY! Stupid'myhandsaretiedyou'llhavetodoityourself'lazybum!"

"Marie? Where did you come from?" Yu supposed it wasn't all that surprising. As part of Izanami and patron deity of Inaba, she probably had a few tricks up her sleeve besides controlling the weather.

"It's Emmy-chan! Are you mad we didn't invite you to the beach?" Somehow, Yu didn't think Teddie had the right idea.

Marie managed to take a few shaky steps towards them and pointed accusingly at the Shadow Operatives. "You. Inaba. NOW. GO FIX IT!"

Goddess or not, Yu was the only person she'd listen to. "Hey, calm down. Are you here on behalf of the Velvet Room?"

"What Velvet Room?" Marie had given up on walking on the sand and plopped herself down, wiggling her butt to try to get settled. "Margaret says Nose just picked up and moved and forgot about them or something. He's vanished. You aren't getting any help at all."

This was worrying. Sure, Yu hadn't seen Igor himself for quite a while, but he assumed the bulbous man of riddles was still overseeing things during the tournament. Where would he go, and why would he leave the attendants behind – especially if there was something the Persona-users had to do? There were two murderous rogue Persona-users on the loose, another murder mystery where the victim had disappeared, and they were down a whole team.

"We can't keep going back to Inaba," Yukari tried explaining, "We have lives. And we don't even have Personas, anyway, so what good would we be in a fight? Inaba has its own Persona-users. Maybe we're just...done."

But Marie wasn't satisfied with that answer as she (attempted to) leap to her feet. "Urgh...LOOK," Her left eye turned green and menacing.

Fuuka shrieked, and Junpei actually tried to hide behind her. "WHOA, that's a crazy eye! We've got crazy eye sighting!"

"I'm getting tired of towers with your name on it showing up where they're not wanted!There's only room for one grumpy goddess in Inaba, and we're not putting out a personal ad for another one! This is your tower in my town, so come clean it up!"

This set the Shadow Operatives off like a box of fireworks. Akihiko slapped himself in the face so hard they heard it, and Mitsuru began shaking, her hand covering her mouth like she was going to vomit.

"What have we done?" she whispered.

"We have failed our leader," Aigis said mournfully.

Junpei came out of hiding. "Okay, which one of you wished for death, huh? WHO DID IT?"

"Theo and Liz say this is the same tower," Marie pointed at the Operatives, "which means it's up to the same people to take it down again."

"How the hell do you suggest we do that with no Personas?" asked Akihiko. He had positioned himself in front of Mitsuru the moment Marie started yelling.

Eye reduced to normal, Marie scoffed. "Your Personas are there. You want them back, just go and get them already! Jeez! I don't get what the problem is. You did this once before, right? Just do the same thing this time!"

"No, you don't understand. That's not possible," Ken explained to her. His voice was shaking. "The only way to stop Nyx from coming...to seal her away...was…"

Oh. So that's what had happened to their leader. The fact that he wasn't here was a good indication that he'd died, but to think that he did so in order to ensure his team's success...Thanks for setting the bar impossibly high!

Could he have done that? If it had come down to exchanging one life for many, if Izanami had demanded Yu give up his life to save Inaba from destruction...could he really have done the same? And would his team have let him? The answer to that was simple; a resounding no, meaning Makoto Yuki had not told the others about what would happen. Did HE know what was going to happen?

"Wait just a minute here!" Labrys had been watching the Operatives and squinting as if she was trying hard to remember something. "Elizabeth-san told me somethin'. Your friend's a lock, right? To keep some demon dog thing from gettin' to its master? Well, she's been goin' up there every now and then to shoo it off, and it's workin', so everything should be fine, right?"

"Not if the door opens from the other side," replied Marie. "Something broke the lock."

The girls began crying. "Does this mean," Fuuka struggled to say, "that Makoto-kun is...disappointed in us?"

"Everything he did...was for nothing," Yukari sobbed, "because we're idiots!"

Marie was not moved. "Great, we're all on the same page. Can we get going already?"

"Marie," Yu tried to reason with her, "Nanako is sleeping, and I'd rather not wake her up just to drag her home. She'd think it was her fault." She had to at least care for Nanako, even as a means to get to Yu.

"You don't have to. I did a thing. You guys have a TV, right?"

"We don't go through a TV to get to Tartarus," said Ken.

"This isn't Junes, either," Yosuke added.

"Liz told me this would work now," explained Marie," and only now, because the two goddesses are clashing or something."

"Senpai's got TVs big enough to fit all of us at the same time," said Junpei.

"Don't you have to be a Persona-user to go into the TV, though?" Yukari looked worried.

"You are Persona-users. You may have lost them for the time being, but if what Marie says is true, then you can still get them back. And we know how to get Personas." If this meant keeping Nanako safe, Yu would do it. If it dispersed the Doom Cloud hovering over Inaba, the Team would do it. Looking at the Operatives as a wave of determination swept over them, he felt sure that they wouldn't want their Wild Card's sacrifice to be in vain. They'd do it.

"Mitsuru?" Akihiko turned to Mitsuru and hesitantly coaxed her.

Mitsuru shrunk back a little when she realized that all eyes were on her, but she was finally standing straight. She nodded.

"All right, everybody," Yu said, "It's time for the TV Hour."

- ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp -

Welcome to the Babe Hunt Semifinals! The score is still tied, 0-0.

Margaret not only expressly calls Yu a "man-whore" in the animation, she says this directly to Nanako – who cheerfully repeats it after she visits the fortune-telling booth at the Yasogami Culture Festival.

Obligatory "melons" joke acknowledged.

If you "marry" Rise in Persona Q, she comments on the doctored wedding photo with the copyright-free name of a popular graphics program.

In Persona 3's "Journey", you find out that Tartarus is a means for Ryoji to get to the moon to summon Nyx. But in "The Answer" you find out that MC/FeMC has become a padlock not to hold Nyx back, but to separate her from Erebus. Imagine Makoto being so disappointed in and sad for his friends that he can't do his job properly. Now, Elizabeth has been defeating Erebus all this time, but if the door to Nyx was opened, there would be nothing she could do.

(Now, for a laugh, imagine Izanami getting pissed off at another goddess trying to be her roommate: "Um, excuse me, Iwatodai is THAT way!

...bitch.)