The combination of ranged attacks and Matarukaja halted the shadow's flight through the air. The magic it was pelting only managed to get near the back line due to path, anymore it would've dealt serious damage. Though this was an opportune moment. Rui summoned his Persona again, striking the ceiling above the shadow with Garula, the force of the wind striking the wind out of the wings, as the shadow plummeted to the ground he made his command,

"Now we strike it with all we've got", the shadow was now forced to kneel as it recovered from the fall, going on all fours, it's larger arms for melee attacks were still up, but at least for the moment it could not attack with magic.

---

The switch to magic attacks was working, most spells seemed to have a regular effect, however Kami's lightning seemed to be it's weak point, easily staggering the hulking demon. This was their chance for an all-out attack. Kami leading the charged rushed down the Oni, everyone striking it with all they had, before the dust cleared, leaving the Oni on it's knees. It seemed to be nearly over, the battle that is, but that wasn't what was more noticeable. It's body, seemed cracked, as one of the points chipped away and fell, shining and reflecting as it did.

"... Mirror shards? Well whatever, we'll think about that afterward. Ayano, scan it closely and see what you can learn about what it is", and then they'll talk about it afterward. Whatever it is, it wasn't quite a shadow, it seemed to be something else, and he felt they'd be dealing with this kind of thing regularly from now on.

Everyone began sizing up for their finishing move as the Oni got back up to resume it's attack, trying to charge straight for the back line.

While all their magic worked much better than any physical attacks they had been doing, they still didn't do as much as they'd like. That is, until Kami hit it with a striking bolt of lightening, shattering the demon's seemingly impenetrable defenses with the crack of thunder. It staggered backwards, seemingly defenseless. This was the opening they needed... It was time to go all-out.

While the others might have rushed in, Sato stayed back and launched an arrow into the sky above the oni. Chronos appeared above the oni as well, though, and smashed the end of its scythe into the arrow mid-flight. As a result, a powerful Rainy Death poured down onto the oni, a hail of arrows ripping through its flesh. Combined with the force of everyone elses' attacks, a powerful storm of debris whipped up around them, obscuring everyone in it.


Everyone jumped back after completing the all-out attack, waiting to see what was next. Though he can't say he was surprised, Sato winced as he watched the oni rise up off its knees from the cloud of dust with a fierce look of revenge. While he had been sure his shots were hitting flesh, Sato noticed the unmistakable appearance of cracked glass running along the oni's body. Was it just an illusion...? The power it had was anything but, yet the oni seemed to lack any kind of reality... Regardless, it wasn't the time to contemplate that kind of thing yet, seeing as the battle wasn't even over yet.

The oni didn't waste much time before starting to charge at them again, but the team was more scattered this time due to the chaos of the all-out attack, leaving Sato and Shizuka open to the oni's path of destruction. Panicking, Sato instinctively dodged backwards, though the unplanned momentum carried him awkwardly and he found himself tumbling head-first. Fortunately, though, he managed to throw his hands behind him, caught himself, and flipped backwards. Even with a bit of a stumbled landing on his feet, it was sick as hell.

"Damn, that was cool..." Sato muttered to himself, before realizing that he'd left Shizuka completely alone in the direct path of the oni... Hopefully she'd be fine. They had put up buffs, right?

Kotori Shirohane - Seto: Chapel of the Martyr | Wednesday

Seeing as they had enough time to dodge the incoming magic attacks, everyone managed to get through the barrage with scrapes at worst. As such, Akane's scowl was evidently not one of pain but rather annoyance due to the flying nature of the Shadow. Still, she wasn't entirely helpless - instead, Setanta, her persona, infused everyone in the group with strengthening magics. Kotori was thankful for the aid, even as she called out for a lightning strike by Kikuri-Hime - which, no small thanks to the improved power, managed to briefly jar the flying Shadow; just long enough for Katsuro to follow up with a yet stronger spell of the same element. This in turn gave Rui enough of an opening to easily blast it out of the sky with wind magic.

With a loud thud the Shadow came crashing down - but it was only momentarily stunned by this turn of events. Nearly immediately, its skeletal arms lashed out at the air around it whilst it recovered from the grounding. It was once more in range for melee attacks and would likely be an easy target - as long as they avoided getting struck in retaliation. As Kotori looked over the other three to make sure that they were yet unharmed, a brief hope spread in her that perhaps they might just be able to finish this quickly as Rui called for everyone to attack with all they had.

"Kikuri-Hime," Kotori called, the feeling the magical fortification that had been placed upon her thanks to Akane keenly as she fixed her eyes on the grounded Shadow. "Zionga" With no delay, thunder echoed through the chapel as a lightning bolt struck the Shadow - aiding in the assault and, hopefully, making just enough of a distraction for Rui and Akane to safely bypass the bone claws scything the air between them as they drew near. Kotori felt a small measure of guilt at being safe out of range for those attacks when the two had to brave it even as she kept a close watch on them, ready to cast a healing spell if necessary.

Thanks to Rui taking advantage of an opportune moment with a garula, the ceiling came crashing down on the shadow and sent it crashing into the ground. The shadow was now forced to kneel on all fours as it tried to recover from the fall, now was moment. Now that it was unable to use magic, at least for the time being anyway, it was the time for the final assault.

Thanks to an assist from Kotori, sending a thunderbolt crashing into the shadow, it allowed Akane to get in close without having to deal with those pesky bone claw of it. With it's fall came the perfect moment. Summoning her persona to take advantage, "VILE ASSAULT!"

The volley of attacks dealt a lasting blow upon the shadow, after it slide across the floor from the vicious assault, it took to the air again, albeit slowly and almost as if it was limping. This was almost over. Although while it was trying to rise again, struggling and limping into the air, it cast magic at the party, as if encouraging them to not get any closer.

"We're going to finish this. Akane take the left, I'll go right. Kotori heal the damage we take, Katsuro, prepare for a big one", he announced, dashing along the side. The barrage of fireballs from the shadow were very likely to land on them, or splash on them while trying to get close, but if Kotori can heal the damage up as soon as they take a hit, as long as they're able to keep barreling through they can end this now.

---

The Oni barreled through Kami and Jun and went straight for the back line, swinging at anything it could with it's spear. It's blow landed upon Shizuka, the previously applied Tetrakarn activated, but all it did was reflect a physical attack back onto Oni, who was resistant to physical moves, allowing it to attack again and send Shizuka flying.

On the other hand, it was now surrounded. One volley of spells from the remaining three brought it to it's knees. Just one more set of attacks and this should be over. Kami made the order, preparing to use Zeus' lightning skills again.

Kotori Shirohane - Seto: Chapel of the Martyr | Wednesday

Kotori was relieved when she saw that both Akane and Rui managed to weave in between the slashing bone claws mostly unscathed - though she couldn't help but wince whenever a strike drew dangerously close or even managed to inflict a glancing hit. Still, between their direct attacks and Katsuro's magical follow-up blast, the Shadow recoiled and was knocked off-balance; only coming to a stop a few paces away. Judging by the juddering of its wings, the Shadow seemed to be nearing defeat - a thought that only became more concrete when it seemed to have an awfully hard time getting itself airborne. The Shadow seemed to realise much the same - and immediately began to cast a myriad of spells toward the party; seemingly aiming for saturation over precision. Still, it did mean that getting close would be even more of a pain - but Rui nonetheless decided that they shouldn't wait to see if they could down it once more.

Calling on everyone to finish the fight, Rui would take on the Shadow from different directions with Akane whilst Katsuro would lend a magical bombardement to the best of his abilities. Given that they would be going for all-out offence, this left Kotori somewhat worried - even if she quickly nodded in agreement to healing everyone, she still hoped that they get through this unscathed or, failing that, at least without too much pain. Still, with no voices of dissent, the course was decided and the group sprang into action. Dodging the magical attacks of the Shadow to the best of their ability, Akane and Rui dashed forth whilst Katsuro and Kotori were left behind; afforded the luxury of a few additional moments to anticipate any incoming spells as they prepared their own.

"Kikuri-Hime," Kotori called once more, keeping her attention split between both the group and the Shadow's attacks; awaiting the most opportune moment to draw upon her Persona's power to cast a healing spell. This very moment came to pass far sooner than she'd hoped. As Akane and Rui pressed on through the barrage of spells, Kotori spoke a single word: "Salvation."

In that instant, the darkness about the chapel faded as warmth spread all throughout. In an almost soothing embrace, the softly shining light emanating from within Kotori's Persona enveloped Akane, Rui and Katsuro alike. In a single heartbeat, wounds closed. In the blink of an eye, all pain passed from them. In a but a breath, their vigour returned. No fatigue ailed them, no blemish was to be found as Kotori's spell erased all traces of battle they may have sustained; leaving them at peak condition to deliver the final blow to Shadow that was frantically trying to propel itself upward - but to no avail at both spell and blade came crashing down upon it.

Kotori meanwhile, felt the effects of her own spell just as keenly - though so too did she suffer the effects of its casting; a fatigue more mental than physical as she felt the increased healing power coming at a no less increased drain. Not having expected quite as much, she needed a moment to adjust - but caught her breath just a moment later; her eyes quickly snapping up to peer through her glasses at the outcome of the attack - and hoping not to find the Shadow still putting up a fight.

Sato could do little else but watch as the Oni barreled past him. It would've been a total relief that they'd managed to dodge the attack, but he quickly realized that Shizuka had not been quick enough to get out of the way in time. Raising its spear, barely not hitting Sato on the back swing, the Oni attacked Shizu with the full force of its charge behind it. Now, there was good news and bad news.

The good news was that Sato had previously put up a Tetrakarn on the entire party, and because they'd been standing in the back, Shizuka still had the shield on her. The magic barrier blocked the blow completely before exploding back into the Oni's face. The bad news, however, was that the Oni resisted the power of its own physical attack and was barely staggered. Sato's heart sank as he watched the Oni take another swing in seconds, again leaving no time for Shizuka to get out of the way. Like a golfer, the Oni reared up, swinging the spear behind its head before sending her flying away, utterly obliterated by the blow. She skidded to a stop a good twenty meters away, Sato guessed. Was she... dead?

Regardless, they couldn't do anything about her until after they finally finished off the Oni. Fortunately, in the time it took for it to take out Shizu, it was left wide open and the rest of the team managed to surround it again. There was nothing left do besides destroy it with one last round of magical destruction. Summoning Chronos again, Sato quickly unleashed a powerful blast of Garudyne.

As the room lit up with holy light, there was a particular tension in the air as magical fire rained upon the charging Rui and Akane. Kotori casting Salvation was doing it's work as the two were able to keep pushing on despite all the grazes and glancing blows, but as long as they didn't take a direct hit they wouldn't be stopped.

Eventually the fire spells became immense, shrouding Rui and Akane from vision, but after a few moments, the flames dissipated, and Akane was visible, plunging her sword into the shadow's chest. The shadow shrieked in rage before going to grab Akane, all four arms moving to clasp around Akane, but two shadowy figures and four silver flashes came down from above as the arms were cut, misty blackness spewing from the slashes as both Rui and his Persona Askr landed.

"Now! Do it!", Akane leapt off from the shadow as Rui made his order, before Katsuro and Kotori let off a volley of spells, finishing the shadow off in a flashy display of magical power. Within moments the shadow crumpled, it's body breaking away into black mist before it reverted to it's human form.

---

Shizuka was in rough shape as she slid across the ground, but she wasn't completely out. Considering how much she was struggling to get up, she didn't have much left in her, but fortunately neither did the demon. Another round of magic blasted the Oni, repeated strikes of magic chipped away mirror shards with each strike, before the Garudyne blasted whole chunks of the Oni away in a single hit. Everyone was about to let off another volley of magic, but that didn't seem to be necessary.

The Oni began to simply collapse and shatter into mirror shards, dissipating into a vortex. As that happened, everyone was given glimpses of something... They witnesses what looked like the perspective of a man with his wife, long black hair and a warm expression. Kami seemed to recognize it to some degree... But where...? It was all a bit too unclear like the memory was a corrupted tape.

As soon as that had transpired, the village they stood in began to light up a bit.

"Huh? You beat it and... now this area. How to put it, it's 'safe' now. Shadows that were lurking nearby seem to be simply running away",

"I see... I guess this makes for a good forward base. We'll head back, we're done here for now, hopefully Rui's finished on his end too", and with that, it was agreed they would head back.

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru walked towards his Shadow, the battle and seeing Rui Sinichi's sacrifices having cleared his mind. He would then clear his throat, and say:

"I really am you, am I? And you are me." A faint smile, and the young man opened his arms.

"After seeing you fight Rui, and more importantly, seeing Rui fight to save a stranger like me, I now realize...I do feel what you said I feel, that I feel anger, doubt, and even hate in my heart. I do want to get away from my cage, from the cup of suffering given to me, and which I blame my God for pushing those on my soul. But that isn't all of me, just as you aren't just the things you said." He placed his right hand over his heart.

"Even if God is Evil, even if God is against happiness, The Golden Rule still stands; do unto others as they would have them do unto you. Same for loving your neighbor as yourself. But enough preaching. Point is, I am sorry for bottling you up, for refusing to acknowledge you. Please, my self, let us be one again." Samuru offered his hand, causing the Shadow to smile, and take it, slowly dissolving into blue motes of light.

"Per...so...na..." Samuru said, drawing out the syllables, as a card, The Heirophant, settled down on his still-outstretched hand. He would turn around to Rui, then say:

"I owe you, Rui Sinichi. I owe you and your group. Now, tell me all about what's happening so that I know who to fight."

@Sho Minazuki@Takaru@I-Am-X@Vulkan

Kotori Shirohane - Seto: Chapel of the Martyr | Wednesday

Looking up, Kotori saw that the attack had been a resounding success. Relief washed over her as she saw the Shadow reeling from a direct strike to the chest from Akane - but more importantly, both she and Rui were unharmed after Kotori's healing magic had done its work. Yet just a moment her eyes widened when the reeling Shadow surged forth with desperate ferocity and brought all four of its clawed hands forth to grab Akane - but Kotori's fears subsided just as quickly when Rui and his persona, Askr, broke the Shadow's grasp with clean cuts along all four arms. Recoiling from this unrelenting assault, Rui saw the opportunity they had been waiting for and called for a final attack into the opening that he'd just created.

Knowing what was coming all too well, used the Shadow's body as a spring to catapult herself away from it - though not without taking the opportunity to inflict a last blow to repay the Shadow's attempt at imprisoning her in its hands. Just a moment later, the shadows within the chapel, having crept back into every dark crevice as Kotori's healing spell ended, were once more cast away by a stark light - this by a double lightning strike as Kotori called upon Kikuri-Hime to keep the weakened Shadow in place for just a moment longer in order for Katsuro to finally finish it off with his more powerful offensive magic.

This time, however, the shadows remained banished. The unnatural darkness receded as the Shadow began to lose the power to sustain itself, flaking away in wisps of black smoke that dissipated within moments. Before long, the entire form had collapsed - and revealed the golden-eyed double of the boy that was still behind the group standing where the Shadow lay just seconds prior. With the immediate threat vanquished, Kotori could finally catch her breath - albeit not without a worrying glance in the boy's direction as he strode forth to meet his other self; her to date unrealised fear of what might happen should someone refuse themselves a second time springing forth once more.

However, his first words were quick to settle this fear. He made no attempt at denying his other self - instead, he wholly agreed with what his mirror image had said. Though Kotori still felt a slight unease at having been made privy to another's private struggles yet again, a small smile still found its way to her lips - much like everyone present, she'd gone through much the same process and, ultimately, had found some peace of mind therein. And judging by the way the boy was whole-heartedly embracing the feelings he'd been keeping hidden from himself, this seemed to do him no less good.

Seeing its purpose fulfilled, there was nothing left for the golden-eyed boy to smile - even as, much like his shadowy form before, he too began to vanish from sight. However, rather than turning into black smoke, he instead seemed to become a soft blue light, slowly rising and gathering above the boy as a familiar card descended into his hand. And as he drew upon this new-found power within himself, the blue glow above him grew in intensity - though never becoming painful to the eye - before revealing a new form, clad in long robes of red and white; reflecting the boy's restored faith in its appearance before fading from view as he turned to face the group that had come to his aid and addressing Rui.

Knowing what happened after she had gained her persona and seeing it mirrored many times since, concern clouded Kotori's expression as she glanced between Rui and the boy speaking to him - the fatigue easily being enough to overwhelm almost anyone in a matter of moments. Still, as Rui gave a brief explanation - seemingly waiting for much the same - Kotori had managed to rest up enough to turn her thoughts to the other group, hoping that the four of them - Kaminari, Shizuka, Sato and Jun - had managed to get through whatever challenges they'd faced unharmed.

It took her just a moment before she shook her head at that thought - after all, besides Jun, they were all undoubtedly experienced enough to make short work of anything in their way.

It was the usual drill, take the rescued to the hospital, Katsuro was taking care of that. They decided to speak about the Mirror World and what Kami had encountered later, it'd probably be best once everyone was here, plus they'd need to ask if Samuru was going to join. With that in mind, everyone headed home.

---

TRACK: Poem of Everyone's Souls

As Samuru and Fubuki came to, they were greeted with a shadowed sight, the lighting for the room was rather dark, although it was clear this room had a lot of blue. Even the table they sat at had a blue hue to it. Inscribed in front of them was a number in Roman Numerals, representing their Arcana, and their seating seemed to be assigned in a related fashion along the long table.

The next thing they'd notice is that their clothes were different. Samuru found himself in a blue suit by how it felt, but it was not immediately recognizable as he wore a matching blue shoulder cape over it, it reminded him a little of priests, although this may be fitting all things considered. Fubuki found herself in a long dress with side cuts, and thigh high high heeled boots, as well as long dark blue gloves. There was a mysterious and sexy vibe to the entire outfit, almost a reminder of a particular character in a video game. Regardless, their attention would immediately be drawn to the very end of the table,

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room", he began. The long nose and wide, glaring eyes were a unnerving combination.

"This is a room that exists between dream and reality, mind, and matter. I am Igor, the host to this room, and this here is Henrietta", the woman standing beside him get a slow bow before he continued.

"I see the last of our guests have arrived... And none too soon", he said, pulling out a deck of tarot cards. He drew one, and held it up, facing Samuru.

"You have drawn, the Hierophant. Hmmmm... Judging by your character, it appears you are only growing into it. You have the potential to be wise, and logical, and give others guidance as you have been given yourself. I do hope to see this potential realized in your time here", slowly he placed the card back into the pile, before drawing yet another, and facing Fubuki.

"And you, the Tower. Often the Tower is the sign of forecoming doom and downfall as a result of one's own hubris, however it seems you have narrowly avoided such a fate. A fortunate turn of events wouldn't you say?", he neatly tucked the cards away as he raised a hand to Henrietta, who took this as a signal to walk around the table, handing both Fubuki and Samuru and unique key.

"With these keys, you can revisit this room whenever you like... Now, normally I would dismiss you both immediately after you have received it, but now that all guests have arrived..."

He slowly raised his hands, and clapped twice.



TRACK: Blues in the Velvet Room

The lights in the room began to brighten the place, everything became clearer, the music in the room changed, the look of the room changed from dark and mysterious to a majestic dining hall. The different shades of blue tastefully decorated with linings of gold. The silhouettes in the chairs were filled one by one, everyone who had been here before was now here, and pretty soon, every single chair at the table was filled. Even at the very end, a bird sat perched upon a stand, some would recognize it as Zeke, the hawk sparrow that had been helping the party. As soon as everyone had formed, it seems they were able to speak with one another, but only from the comforts of their chairs, it appeared they could not get out of their chairs, or at least yet.

"My my, it seems we have a very special guest here today too... Well then...

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room"

"I am honored, Mr. Igor," Samuru bowed a little. He didn't feel like someone who can give guidance to others, but he wanted to help, and so he will. Looking at the band of teenagers around him, some of whom he recognized, the young man felt...proud, proud that he had been basically appointed 'chaplain' of people who by rights were 'better' than him due to social rank and natural talent. But at the same time, he was humbled by the size of the responsbility placed upon his shoulders.

Turning towards Fubuki, Samuru gave a nod at his fair new partner, admiring her evident strength. Then he would wait for everyone else to speak.

@Ryougu@Sho Minazuki

Kotori Shirohane - Shirohane Residence | Thursday, July 23 2015

As Kotori flipped another page in the math book before her, she had to suppress a yawn - and not for the first time that day. The reason for it was not boredom at the subject matter - she didn't mind finishing her summer holiday - but rather the fact that she hadn't really slept too well the night before. That in turn wasn't too surprising at this point, considering that the excitement - at least once everyone was back safe and sound - made for a rather terrible sleeping aid, leaving her to stay awake for hours on end on such days in the past. This time, however, Kotori's excitement had been tainted by guilt - even after she'd been reassured multiple times, Kotori couldn't help but worry about Shizuka who, as she'd found once when she'd returned, apparently suffered heavy attacks in this Seto place. Even knowing that she'd at least aided somewhat in the rescue of Samuru, Kotori still felt like she might have been able to prevent those events from transpiring - but either way, it didn't make for a good night's sleep.

With a sigh, Kotori put her pencil down and looked up from her books, stretching her arms upwards - only now noticing the slight ache that came with writing continuously for quite some time - before bringing them back to rub her eyes behind her glasses; the tiredness never quite having left them ever since she got up that morning. When she opened them again, however...

Kotori Shirohane - Velvet Room | Thursday

...Kotori found herself sitting at quite a different table indeed. Even though she knew she should be surprised at this inexplicable turn of events, Kotori felt oddly calm as she looked about the room. She recognised it immediately - even though it had been more than a month and a half - as the same place she'd awakened at following her kidnapping and subsequent awakening of her persona, Kikuri-Hime. This time, however, the room looked quite different. Where before it had held a dark and mysterious atmosphere, it was now revealed to be a splendid dining hall. In this new light, she could see the hall decorated in many complimenting shades of blue, highlighted by interwoven patterns in gold. As her eyes wandered back down toward the table, she found that all the other seats - one of them replaced by a perch for a bird to perch upon - were now occupied. Tut this time, not by shadowy silhouettes.

Instead, Kotori found herself at the table with everyone else who'd gotten involved with the mirror realm. However, instead than their school uniforms or even their casual clothes, they all were wearing rather more formal and fancy attire. It was only when she looked down that Kotori realised that this applied to herself too. Lifting her arms, she saw them clad in dark blue fingerless elbow gloves. Following the lines of her arms, she further found herself wearing a similarly blue jacket which ended in a long skirt of many large frills, alternating between blue and a pale yellow-gold colour. Where one colour was predominant, the other served as a decorative highlight. This too was true of the heeled shoes she found herself wearing, much in keeping with the rest of her clothes. Additionally, a large ribbon of the same pale golden yellow adorned the small of her back - whilst the same colour drew her attention upwards to a blue flower set in her long black hair, decorated further with another ribbon tied to it. Of course, given that she could clearly recognise all these things and the others sat at the table clearly told her that she was still wearing her glasses.

Rather than confusion or outright embarrassment at clad in such a fashionable outfit, Kotori merely felt a mild surprise - though that did not last for very long before a familiar voice spoke up. Drawing all eyes unto himself with his words, the strange man with his distinctly long nose and large eyes seemed quite pleased to finally have gathered everyone at the table. Henrietta, his assistant, remained impassive at his side as Igor addressed them all with his next words:

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room"

Kotori in return gave a polite bow as best she could whilst still seated. Though she still did really understand exactly what was going on, she couldn't help but feel like most questions would be answered very soon indeed and as such remained silent.

Ryan was waiting outside if the mirror world for everyone to beat the Shadow when everyone came out of the mirror world with Samaru and Fubuki. They were taken to the hospital then everyone went their seperate ways for the day. As Ryan went to sleep his vision darkened as fell into slumber.

However it quickly brightened again as he found himself inside that weird room with the big blue table. This time he took notice of two things he had noticed before. The first was that there was a Roman numeral in front of his seat, number VI, and the second being that there was a variety of other people around him as well.

On one side of him was Akane, on the other was the person they were just saving, Samuru if he remembered correctly. Both were dressed in blue clothing similar to his, bit very different at the same time. Ryan loomed around and noticed that everyone they had recruited so far was seated, even the hawk. Weird. He turned his gaze towards their defacto leader Rui and gave him a questioning look. Is this something he forgot to mention before Ryan joined the investigation team?

Suddenly the Igor spoke, introducing everyone to the Velvet Room once again, so Ryan sighed as he waited for him to explain what was happening. What a strange day this was.

With one last collective strike from everyone, the Oni was finally defeated. With its strength faded, each repeated blow of magic sent a dust of glass flying, ripping away parts of its body like parts of a figurine. Before they could go in for another all-out-attack, though, the Oni evaporated into a mist of glass dust that flew away in the breeze. A flash of glass reflection revealed a quick image of a smiling couple, but it was far too glimpse and it didn't seem to stir any kind of memory within Sato, so he opted to ignore it for the time being.

Suddenly, presumably because they had defeated the shadow, the oppressive air of the village seemed to lift. Sato smiled to himself as he breathed in the fresher-seeming air. It felt a lot more like the real world, which was quite a relief when coupled with the fact that Megumi shared of how the area seemed to be completely absent of shadows now. The group decided that they were pretty much done after dealing with that mess, and opted to head back out and rendezvous with Rui's group-- they had little doubt their team had overcame whatever challenges they had met. Sato walked over to Shizuka's side after, offering her his help if she wasn't feel well enough to walk all the way back out. She had taken quite the hit, after all.

Outside, back at the warehouse, the group waited for a few minutes before Rui's group emerged as well, revealing that they had managed to save another victim from the Mirror World. Kami offered to carry them over to the hospital, but with that they had nothing else to do or discuss, leading to a quick disbanding of the group. It was already getting late, so Sato decided he should head home, but not without walking Mako home first. They went down the streets a little slower than usual, and when the time came for Sato to part ways, the moment to take those parting steps felt like an hour.

Once home, Sato decided to try to study for a bit, but the fatigue of their Mirror World weighed on him heavily. It felt like a drug was slowly pulling away from the world of consciousness, so for the sake of his back, Sato slinked away from his desk and fell into his bed. Though his body seemed to melt away into sleep, his consciousness felt like it was still alive, something beckoning his mind...

---

JULY 22TH 2015, THURSDAY
Middle of the Night
Sato's senses slowly came back to him, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings. Once the black faded from his vision, Sato looked around, quickly realizing that he had found himself in the Velvet Room once again. Sato found himself getting frustrated with the familiar murkiness and droning music that characterized the place, but he tried to ignore it and realized that all of the seats had finally been filled, even if he couldn't quite make out who each of the silhouettes were. Though, just as Sato's consciousness began to fade, a clapping sound resounded throughout the room. The room suddenly lit up, the lights piercing through the fog that had previously obscured the room. With the new-found light, Sato found himself finally able to make out everyone else in the room. His fellow guests turned out to be nobody else but every other member of the investigation team. Rui, Mako, Shizuka, Matt-- everyone was here, all corresponding to a tarot arcana, even the last couple of victims they had just saved the other night (and the hawk?). Though, for some reason, all of them were also in overly fancy outfits. Some of them were impressive, actually, but that wasn't the point.

Like always, Sato's body felt disconnected from his consciousness, and he could only manage to move his head, unable to rise from his chair no matter how much he wanted to. He briefly wondered if he could try to talk to the people that sat next to him, but before he even bothered trying, he decided that it would be better to just listen to the man with the long nose.

"Welcome," Igor said, with a deep drawl, "to the Velvet Room."

Finding herself in the strange, blue room, Fubuki rubbed her eyes, quietly hoping the blue would become less intense. No such thing happened however, and she soon returned to observing the room. The first thing she noticed was the numeral, she knew it said sixteen, but she was having a hard time thinking of why she'd be asssigned this number, especially when she saw another person all the way over at... some lower number, it was too dark to read it clearly.

As she rested her hand on her brow instinctively, which usually helped to see further ahead as it blocked out the sun, she still found herself unable to see the number. Of course it wouldn't have worked, the problem wasn't light after all. She did notice, however, that she was wearing a long blue glove. Looking herself over, she found out she was wearing a completely blue outfit. Slightly disturbed for being in an unfamiliar room in unfamiliar clothing, Fubuki soon found her thoughts interrupted by a voice.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room"

Looking away from her outfit, towards the location the voice had come from, Fubuki saw an odd little man. His long nose and glaring eyes were slightly worrying, but before she'd given much thought to the man's appearance he started doing some introductions.

"This is a room that exists between dream and reality, mind, and matter. I am Igor, the host to this room, and this here is Henrietta"

...Between dream and reality? Fubuki pondered the words for a moment. She'd thought the man would clear things up by speaking, rather than make things even stranger as they were already. As Igor introduced Henrietta, Fubuki found herself ever so grateful, the woman was a more pleasant sight to behold than Igor himself, after all. Fubuki only paid half attention as Igor turned to tarot card readings with Samuru, still determined to figure out just what was going on here. She was once more forced to attention as Igor directly looked at her and drew another card.

"And you, the Tower. Often the Tower is the sign of forecoming doom and downfall as a result of one's own hubris, however it seems you have narrowly avoided such a fate. A fortunate turn of events wouldn't you say?"

When Igor mentioned doom and downfall, Fubuki was ready to interject, claiming she'd be fine like she always was. Before she'd uttered the words, however, Igor already went on claiming she'd already avoided this, and how that was so funrtunate. Fubuki herself however, had barely any clue what he was going on about, so she just smiled awkwardly, nodded and agreed. Next, Igor gestured to Henrietta and she gave Fubuki some sort of key.

"With these keys, you can revisit this room whenever you like... Now, normally I would dismiss you both immediately after you have received it, but now that all guests have arrived..."


As the room brightened, Fubuki couldn't help but cover her eyes. A moment later, after her eyes had adjusted, she found that a lot more people were in the room, people, and a bird. The bird actually looked sort of cute wearing its blue outfit, though it was hard to deny it did make him look a bit silly. Looking around, Fubuki realized she didn't know most of these people. She was glad to see the young man from before, though she didn't know his name, at least she recognized him. He nodded at her, but like with so many things here, she had no clue why. Deciding to at least try to get along for now, she smiled and waved at him. She considered speaking, but the people around her were all silent, as if expecting something. Glancing over everyone, she resigned, deciding not to break the deafening silence left after Igor's words.

It was pleasing to see the shadow still up and about, but this fight is at it's end. As it tried to fly up, limping and slow as it was, it shot off a blast of magic at them but this was just like a small wounded animal trying to make others believe it was a threat. Try as it might, it's fate was sealed and it was high time they finished it. With Akane and Rui taking to their usual sides, they begun the final charge.

Thanks to Kotori's use of salvation, her and Rui were able to continue their charge without worry. Zipping down the left side, she summoned Setanta, this time using him as a distraction, and went in for the kill. Due to the immense power of the shadow's magical fire, Akane, along with Rui, were shrouded from view and by the time it was able to see them again, Akane was already up close and plunging her Katana right through it's chest.

The shadow shrieked in rage and tried to grab her but it was much too slow as Rui and Askr made their move and cut its arms clean off. The moment Rui gave the final order, Akane grinned as she kicked off the shadow's chest and flew backwards as the others rained down a magical barrage, pummeling the shadow. And with that, it was finally over as the usual acceptance speech began. Afterwords it was the usual, take'em to the hospital talk about their next move. Once that was done, everyone went their separate ways and went home.

---

It's been awhile but here they were, back in the strange velvet room with the equally strange Igor and that assistant of his. And considering they weren't able to move from their seats, it must mean whatever this little imp had to say was quite important. However, she wasn't sure about the others but Akane for one had other plans for the rest of her night. "I'm sure what's to be said next is important and all, but can we get on with it? Not all of us has all night to sit around and chat."

She did have quite the amount of drawing to do, and being an aspiring mangaka, every second counts in their profession.

---

Mako blinked. Then shook his head, then blinked again. No, this wasn't a daydream. And, barring someone introducing psychotropic hallucinogens into the AC (and really, why would someone do that in Warakuma?), this was actually happening. He'd been plucked from reality... into here. And where was here? Mako took in the blues, blacks, and gold trim, then turned toward the head of the table. Yep- creepy tengu guy, and his blonde assistant. The words were taken out of his mouth by Tengu-person in the next sentence:

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

Oh, of course. Because I don't have to deal with this enough with my life. He looked around at the others at the table, all of his fellow investigators, it seemed, before his eyes stopped on his boyfriend (?), Sato. His eyebrows raised as he saw the outfit they were wearing- very... to the nines, so to speak.

....Though, it seems it's not without its perks. Mako turned toward Igor, waiting for the strange long-nosed man to continue speaking, before someone else butted in- a rather rude someone, as it turned out. Mako rolled his eyes, and turned toward the girl in question, almost directly across from him.

"Or, y'know, you could be patient. I'm sure he was about to say something. No need to butt in." He didn't care if he wasn't precisely endearing himself to his teammate, but there was a limit to his tolerance for ill manners. He sat back in his chair (not that there seemed to be anything else he could do for the moment), and waited for the show- whatever it happened to be- to start.

TRACK: Blues in the Velvet Room

"Well then... I have gathered you all here today, to begin the feast. Henrietta if you would...", Igor moved his hand towards the attendant, she simply bowed before speaking.

"Indeed. Today is a momentous occasion where all of this journey's ordained guests have finally arrived at the table. If you would look to the menus laid before you, you will see the services the Velvet Room has to offer. Make your order, and then eat your fill to begin", she began, mid-way through talking, a menu booklet would appear in front of everyone. Upon it were some simple services, along with "Courses".

The Menu

It seemed pretty straightforward... Order, and ye shall receive the services of your choice, as well as a meal it looks like.

"Although, for today you have all simply been called here to be informed that our kitchens have opened. You may come and go from here as you will, you may use this room to conference meetings also, and while food here will not fill your stomach in your world, they are still fairly delicious and I wholeheartedly recommend the desserts", the introduction to this seemed to be over, but it seems now they may come and go from here whenever they wish... This could prove incredibly useful. Still, the descriptions of some of these services... Were they expected to do combat too...?

"Very good Henrietta... Well then, I think today's meeting can be adjourned. I hope to see you all again soon, perhaps of your own accord. But until then... Farewell", and just like that, everyone's vision faded back to black.

Ryan opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling for awhile as he gathered his thoughts about the meeting. It would appear as if the Velvet Room was now offering services to help everyone. That was definitely something he needed to check out. He got up from bed and got dressed, grabbing his knives and hiding them in discreet places all over his body. Didn't want to start the day with getting arrested for suspicious behavior. As Ryan grabbed his phone and got ready to call Rui and let him know his plans he heard his mother call for him from the kitchen. Normally she's at work by now.

Ryan headed downstairs to find his mother waiting for him along with breakfast. "Sit down Ryan, I think we need to talk." Ryan sat down and began eating as his mother composed her thoughts. "I understand that I haven't been around much, you understand that I've been busy with work right? But that's no excuse. Ever since I saw you in that hospital bed... I've been thinking of what a horrible parent I've been." She was getting visibly upset as tears brimmed in her eyes.

"That wasn't your fault mom, you couldn't have known." Ryan had to bite his tongue to stop himself. If he mentioned the kidnapping a whole new set of questions would come up. "But it was my fault! If I spent more time at home, being a parent, I could've stopped you from getting hurt!" She was crying at this point, but she took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. "But no more. I'm gonna try and take more time off of work. I'm going to be a parent for you. Like I was supposed to be years ago."

Ryan smiled as tears brimmed in his eyes. He got up from his table, rushed over to his mother and hugged her. 'I forgive you.' It was okay now, all the decisions she had taken away from him, all the friends he had lost, he would remember those. But he forgave her for it all.

Thou art I and I art Thou. I am Geraint, the Trusting King.

A voice echoed in his head, he vaguely recognized it as his Persona. That didn't matter right now.

---

After finishing breakfast Ryan talked to his mom for a while before she admitted that she unfortunately had to go to work today. After assuring her that it was okay he headed out to the warehouse. On his way he texted Rui letting him know of his plans to venture into Seto and to let everyone else know as he didn't have their phone number.

When he got to the warehouse he decided to wait around a bit just in case he got a response saying to wait up.