Now that everyone seemed to be conscious, the attendant Henrietta gave a bow and began explaining the momentous 'feast' that they were apparently all a part of. How would they eat while unconscious though...? This wasn't 'real', was it? As if to answer the question, Henrietta suggested they browse the menus that Sato noticed were in front of them. Curious, Sato opened it and skimmed through the contents. Obviously the most notable thing was the main course section. They briefly describe what sounded like a battle between the customer and some mysterious forces. All together, things on the menu seemed to just be new ways to harness the powers of their personas...

Regardless of whether Sato even wanted to 'order' anything, Henrietta then informed them that they had all been called there just to announce the beginning of the services for now, and that they could apparently come back to the Velvet Room of their own accord from now on. It's then that Sato remembered the key that he had found with him when he had woken up in the hospital. It had to be the key to the Velvet Room, but, where would they even be able to use it...?

Before Sato could muster up the will to ask any questions, Igor dismissed everyone and Sato's consciousness quickly faded again. The entire room seemed to melt into a blue nothingness as he felt his thoughts slipping away...

---

JULY 23RD 2015, THURSDAY
Noon

The summer day was sweltering, and as Sato walked into the abandoned warehouse, he couldn't help but wonder if the Mirror World would be as equally miserable. The thought begged a question: was it a 'true' mirror of the real world, or was it merely a messed up distortion that coincided with the real world? Regardless of the answer, Sato had talked to Mako about the short-lived trip into Seto the team had last night, and they soon decided to investigate it together now that there was no target to save. Sato informed the rest of the group that they were planning on going into the mirror world and that anyone else come at the specified time.

As he walked into the warehouse, though, he noticed that Ryan had already arrived. "Hey," Sato acknowledged him, giving a small nod. "Are you going into the Mirror World as well today?" He'd be a valuable asset, especially if nobody else showed. Neither he nor Mako had any means of healing themselves should something happen, so having support in the form of Ryan's Persona was very much welcome. "Say, do you have my phone number yet? It'd probably be a good idea to exchange numbers, seeing as we're stuck relaying messages through Rui to the others."

With that, though, they had little else to do, lounged around in the warehouse for Mako and any of the others who had RSVP'd. Looking around as he waited, it occurred to him that while they had been using the warehouse as their base of operations for quite some time, they had never really done anything to it. Or even clean it up, much. He considered clearing some of it out while he was doing nothing, but the sheer scope of the task was daunting. Maybe they should organize a group cleaning day or something...

Samuru Amakusa

Morning prayers with the family were a delight, despite the secrets - multiple ones now - that Samuru had to keep from his parents. Then came practice with his Chinese Monk's Spade, an unusual weapon that the young man planned to enchant in The Velvet Room with Absorb Physical as soon as possible. Why? Because there was apparently a cult operating in the real world, Personae couldn't be used in the real world (he tried), and 'The Menu' didn't say that Arcane Weapons are subject to the same limits, and can thus be used on Earth, right?

That logic has more holes than a slice of Swiss Cheese.

Fine, he'll ask Igor once he gets to The Velvet Room again. But for now, to text Rui saying he'd be in the warehouse the group met in; he was going to clean up the place a little, maybe even cook if they brought in a kitchenette already. Yeah, that'd be great.

One timeskip to the warehouse later, he would encounter Ryan as the latter was standing around. Walking over, Samuru would say, "Hello there, my name is Samuru Amakusa; your name is Ryan Chideta, right? If so, happy to meet you."

"Anyway...I came here to see if the place needed more fixing up. But, if you have plans of your own, I suppose I can help."

Ryan was chilling in the warehouse when he noticed Sato arrive. He walked over to Ryan and he raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, are you going into the Mirror World as well today?"

Ryan nodded and straightened up a bit from his slouch that he had been in. "Yeah, I figured we didn't have much time to investigate yesterday after everything happened, so we should do so today. I'm also interested in the whole meal thing, in the Velvet Room. Might check that out later." He shrugged at the end of his statement, kinda weird that they were eating to power up Personas.

"Say, do you have my phone number yet? It'd probably be a good idea to exchange numbers, seeing as we're stuck relaying messages through Rui to the others."

Ryan nodded and pulled out his phone, quickly exchanging numbers with Sato. Soon after Samuru showed up and introduced himself to Ryan. He asked if he had anything planned and Ryan nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, we were gonna head into Seto and try and figure out whats up with the place. If you wanna join feel free, but we're waiting for one more person." He made a note if what Samuru said about cleaning and looked around. Wow, the whole warehouse really is filthy. We should take a day or two soon to clean up.

---

Mako raised an eyebrow at the wording used by Igor and his attendant. So... this was supposed to be some kind of dining room, then? Interesting choice for... whatever this place actually was. After the menus were passed around, Mako took a critical eye of the one in his hands. The True Self... Conqueror's Buffet... Mako hummed quietly in thought.

So... these aren't really meals at all, then. They're trials. A way to get stronger. Mako felt at the Persona in his being. He could tell it was powerful, but the opposition they were up against was powerful as well. Especially if there were many more Shadows at, or above, the level of his own. It wasn't a bad idea to get more powerful, as well. Mako thought about what Igor said, that they could come and go as they pleased.

Ah... so that's what that key is for. Mako smiled as his eyesight began to dim, as he returned to the real world. I'm looking forward to it...

---

Mako checked his phone again as he headed toward the "abandoned" warehouse. Apparently, there was more to the Mirror World than just their Shadows' domains or the Velvet Room. Something called, "Seto." Boy, that could get confusing quickly. Ah, well. He'd find out what that all entailed when he got there. As he entered, he was somewhat taken aback by the other two people there. It wasn't entirely unprecedented- the Mirror World wasn't exactly a romantic getaway location, and going in with just the two of them would be a bad idea, but... still. It would make this next part less embarrassing. Mako entered the warehouse fully, walking over to Sato and catching him in a short, but firm hug.

"Good to see you," he whispered in his ear, just before pulling away. He glanced around at the other two in the warehouse at present. It looked like Ryan, and... one of the newer investigators- he didn't think he'd met him yet. He bowed slightly in their direction.

"Nice to see you both. Are we all going in together, then?"

@Sen@floodtalon@EnterTheHero

Samuru Amakusa

"It seems that we're going to the Mirror World, yes," spoke Samuru. "I'd like for us to try and get stronger first, but, well, I suppose better to investigate earlier than never. Anyway," he said to Mako, offering his hand, "Samuru Amakusa, nice to meet you. I originally came to help clean up the warehouse, but, well, this sounds more important."

Once Mako had shaken his hand, Samuru would then say, "So, do we go through a mirror to investigate this Seto place?"

Then, he remembered what Sato had said to Mako earlier, "Oh! And exchanging numbers sounds good; here's mine."

And with that, Samuru would write his telephone number neatly on his school notebook and hand it over to everyone else. "Also, should we bring supplies? I can tell my father that I've made new friends and we're going on a camping trip..." Hopefully, I have made new friends. Dangit, long years of anxiety have sapped my social skills...

Before long, Sato heard another person enter the warehouse, and he turned around expecting Mako. Instead, though, was the latest addition to the team, Samuru Amakusa. Sato nodded a greeting to the younger boy, and opted to listen in on his and Ryan's conversation. Though he apparently came to clean out the warehouse, Samuru instead decided to join the team going in Seto. It was a welcome addition, seeing as Seto was still a pretty unknown place for the team. Plus, it'd be interesting to see Samuru in combat for pretty much the first time.

Soon enough, though, Mako arrived, and Sato was the first to meet him by the door, but what he had expected to just be a casual greeting turned into Mako embracing him. "Um," Sato muttered, unsure of the precedent being set. It wasn't that he particularly minded the contact, but it felt like the first time others had really witnessed their intimacy. Well, it shouldn't matter, seeing as being honest with themselves was kind of the whole reason they got their personas anyway. "It's nice to see you too." Sato replied, trying to hide a pleased smile.

Sato turned to the rest of the group and nodded, now that Mako was there. "Four-- cough, five-- of us should be enough for a safe expedition into Seto," he said, fidgeting with a part of his long bangs as he noticed Ayano in the corner apparently, "so we should be good to go. I believe it's Samuru's first time in real action, though, correct? Let's all be careful, since we don't have much back-up going forward."

Having acknowledged Samuru's official participation in the team, Sato turned to head into the mirror world, but he stopped at Samuru's question(s). "I guess you've never actually done this before..." Sato scratched at the side of his face. He pulled out his phone to exchange numbers with Samuru as well as he spoke. "Just walk into the mirror, and since we have our personas, it should just work. I would recommend against trying to enter any mirrors besides this one... It might have dangerous results." Sato cocked his head a bit. "And, I don't think bringing supplies is going to be necessary. This shouldn't take too long, and if worst comes to worst we have your guys' healing spells."

With that said, the group continued any conversation into the mirror world...

---

The quartet of teens emerged onto the strange corrupted streets of Mirror Warakuma, and Sato was relieved to find that the Mirror World was somehow cooler, though muggy and suffocating. Sato lead the group down several familiar-looking roads before they suddenly found themselves on the shore of sea of Seto. The torii that marked its entrance towered over the group, and Sato turned towards the group once again.

"Here we are." He said. "The steps beyond the torii should lead us into the first area of Seto. Exploring there should be our first priority, but don't stray too far from the group. Ayano's navigation can't save you." The group then went down the long staircase into what lay beneath the surface of the sea, entering the same Japanese-esque forest and village as before. It seemed odd to be back so soon, after having only been going once every week or so. It was all fairly familiar to Sato, though, so he simply walked along with the others as they journeyed into the depths of Seto.

@Sen@floodtalon@EnterTheHero

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru instinctively deferred to Sato's leadership, following him into the mirror, hoping that he can be of help to his new friends. Getting out his weapon even though he hadn't enchanted it yet, the young man chose to follow his given orders meticulously, if only because he saw how reasonable they were. Despite the expectations that there would be a fight, the young man thought to himself that any battle would be better later than sooner. This was not out of cowardice, but rather a feeling that he needed to practice being alert first before diving into a skirmish.

He would turn towards the closest party member, which could be either Mako, Sato, and Ryan, then say, "Anyway, there were vague mentions of a Cult in the explanation given two days ago. What happens if they come after us in real life?"

Ryan was surprised by the embrace between Sato and Mako, but he shrugged it off and exchanged numbers with Samuru. He mentioned something about supplies and Ryan shook his head in the negative. "That's why we have Personas. I'll cast Mediarama if things go bad." If he still had it... what did his new Persona even do? He should probably mention that.

---

As they stepped in Ryan shuddered. It felt... wrong in here. He would never get used to that. As they walked down the warped streets Ryan decided to bring up his recent change. "Hey guys, I feel like I need to bring something up that happened this morning. I was having a talk with my mom and something weird happened to my Persona afterwards. I don't think it's a bad thing, but it's not Erec anymore. Now it's Geraint."

After he finished talking they arrived at Seto and Ryan frowned. Quite the imposing gate to Seto. Hopefully this wasn't foreshadowing misfortune on their future. Sato told everyone to stick together and Ryan nodded. Splitting up never worked out well, he had seen enough anime to know that. As they journeyed down Samuru asked a very good question. What do we do if we get attacked in the real world.

"Well I carry around knives so I can defend myself, I'm also military trained. But I don't think they'll come after us. We escaped once, there's no sense in attacking again. That would be awkward." Ryan said with a look of uncertainty. He wasn't fully convinced by his own argument to be honest.

Kotori Shirohane - Velvet Room | Thursday

The first to break the silence following Igor's inital words was Akane - rather than be content to wait until everyone got over their initial surprise and confusion, she was eager to get whatever this meeting exactly was to entail going. Unfortunately, this did not sit too well with Mako, it seemed, who sounded a little annoyed at the interjection - but before any hostilities might spring up between them, Igore spoke up once more; unperturbed by the brief exchange.

Kotori's initial confusion was visibly mirrored in her quizzical expression when the long-nosed man - if he could be called such - announced a feast of sorts before handing things off to his assistant. Henrietta in turn explained that the Velvet Room would be offering services in form of a meal, as explained by the menues before everyone. This brough about a surprised blink by Kotori who had not seen such a menu when she'd initially glanced about - but as she looked down at the table before her, there now was indeed a leather-bound booklet placed before each and every occupant.

Henrietta let a few moments pass in silence as everyone peered into the menu before continuing her words. This meeting was intended to be an informative one - one which had only now become due with the latest addition of both Samuru and Fubuki. It was also only now that Henrietta explained that they were free to come and go as they pleased that Kotori realised that this was the purpose of the key she had received on her first visit to this place over a month ago. Still, whilst she was not opposed to everyone being granted the chance to improve their abilities of dealing with the threat of the shadows through these services, she couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive at the fact it would mean yet more danger for everyone involved.

Following Henrietta's recommendation of the desserts - Kotori could have sworn she saw the assistant licking her lips at the word out of the corner of her eyes for but an instant at the mention of that word - there was another momentary pause as both denizens of the Velvet Room let the words, both spoken and written, sink in before Igor thanked his assitant. Turning his rather large eyes back to the occupants of the table, he then declared this meeting adjourned - though he was looking forward to seeing them all before too long; a equally unusually wide smile breaking out across his face as he bid everyone farewell. And with those words, Kotori's vision faded back to black...

Kotori Shirohane - Shirohane Residence | Thursday

...as she found herself back in the seat before her desk, her vision blocked not by darkness but rather the simple fact that her eyes were closed. Kotori blinked a few times as she had to adjust to the strange feeling of being back in reality - before turning her gaze downward. A relieved sigh came over her lips when she realised that she was still wearing her normal clothes rather than the pretty dress of the Velvet Room - she had no idea how she would have explained its sudden appearance to her mother.

With her mind still swimming in questions surrounding both the Mirror World and the Velvet Room and her gaze still down-turned, Kotori's eyes met the still-open school books on the desk before her; a silent reminder that she was almost done with her homework for the summer break. It took her a moment, but she managed to calm the many thoughts circling the unanswered mysteries about the Mirror World and instead brought her mind back on track with the train of thought that had been so suddenly interrupted. Slightly pushing up her glasses that were threatening to begin slipping from looking down too long, Kotori set about solving the remaining problems.

---

With a contented sigh, Kotori closed the last book before her and placed it with its neatly stacked fellow school books. Her homework completed and checked over once - though she told herself she was sure of her answeres, Kotori knew in the back of her mind that she'd still look over her answers eventually - she found herself at complete liberty for the day. As such, her previously banished thoughts did slowly begin to creep back to the fore as her mind wandered to the Velvet Room visit whilst barely stifling a yawn that betrayed her uneasy rest the night before.

However, even in light of this new information, she still could not piece together just what this whole Mirror World was about. What was this Junsei Sekai Tensei's connection with it? And was there any reason behind her own involvement beyond pure chance - or everyone else's, for that matter? A now more disappointed sigh followed a slow shake of her head as her thoughts turned in unsolved circles. Though she knew that these were things of great importance, she could not get to the bottom of them - at least not until she knew more. As such, she decided to put these questions to rest as best she could, instead looking up and out of the window. With sitting in her chair and wondering all day no longer an option, that did mean that she'd need something else to keep herself busy.

The clear blue sky promised another nice if rather hot summer day - leading her to consider a walk to the local park. Perhaps she could take a book with her and find a bench in the shade of one of the trees there. That is, if her mother didn't need any help around the store - but then again, when Kotori had last offered such, she'd been quite clearly informed that a summer break was meant to be enjoyed and that she should spend some time outside rather than stay cooped up inside with her books almost all summer. Again.

Kotori practically jumped out of her seat when her phone suddenly rang. After getting over her immediate surprise and clearly still not accustomed to getting calls or messages, she was somewhat grateful that at least no one had been around to see all that - but that sentiment quickly faded and was replaced by a sinking feeling when she saw who the sender was. Not because she disliked Rui - but rather because getting a message from him usually meant one thing: Mirror World.

Indeed, such was the case this time as well - but this time, the cause was a little different. Instead of it being a call to action due to Megumi or Ayano detecting an anomalous occurence in the other realm or a kidnapping taking place, it was rather more a heads-up on behalf of both Ryan and Sato that they were planning to head into the Mirror World to explore this Seto place more closely and invited anyone who felt up for it to accompany them.

With no lives immediately at stake, Kotori's immediate thought was to abstain - but just a moment later, her previous train of thought she'd so carefully tried to avoid returned once more. Would this perhaps reveal more about the nature of the Mirror World? Even if it was dangerous, that might shed some light on this whole mystery after all. Furthermore, just because no one had been kidnapped did not mean that no one might get hurt - a small frown accompanied the memory of hearing about Shizuka coming under heavy attack just yesterday.

This mental back-and-forth continued for a few seconds before a small sigh came across Kotori's lips. Though she did not enjoy the prospect of perhaps having to enter the Mirror World when it was not strictly necessary, she knew that she'd be feeling even worse if someone ended up getting hurt when she may have been able to help if only she'd been there. As such, she reluctantly got up to get ready to head out.

Kotori Shirohane - Abandoned Warehouse | Thursday

As it turned out, Kotori arrived to late - Ayano informed her that besides Ryan and Sato, both Mako and Samuru had already met up and, under her navigatorial guidance, made their way inside. Guilty though she may feel for it, Kotori couldn't help but feel almost a little relieved as that meant that she'd be able to remain on the sidelines for now - though if the need truly arose, she knew that she'd nonetheless have to brave the Mirror Realm to render any aid she may. As such, there remained little for her to do beside hope that the four managed to complete their exploration unharmed and perhaps even uncover some new information about this strange place called Seto whilst she would wait in the warehouse for either their return or perhaps any new arrival.

Realising that this was the first time that she'd actually spent any time here without the whole group around, Kotori's eyes wandered around the warehouse. Once more, she realised just how derelict the whole place looked - of course she knew that the place was abandoned, but it still possess a rather unwelcoming utilitarian atmosphere with its size only amplified by the emptiness. As the words from the Velvet Room came to mind, Kotori surmised that the warehouse was going to be seeing more use over the summer break - and as such, could really do with a more welcoming touch.

Rather than just go ahead on her own, Kotori resolved to ask the others if such a thing could or even should be done - perhaps one of the Shoujin students. who'd been using this place for longer than everyone else, or Rui, who'd for all intents and purposes become a leader of sorts for the whole group. With that matter decided, Kotori reached into her bag and brought forth the most recent book she was reading. Though she occasionally glanced up at the grand mirror that served as the connection to the other realm just in case, most of her attention was soon focused on the story. Judging by the small smile, she seemed to be enjoying the novel even in spite of the fact that she could have summarised the entire plot from just the title and its romantic genre. But Kotori was not about to let such minor details spoil a good read.

---

After exchanging information with Ryan and Samuru (just in case- he couldn't rely on Rui all the time, after all), Mako began to follow Sato to their destination, shivering lightly as he glanced around the corrupted version of Warakuma around them. He didn't suppose he'd ever really get used to all of this... whatever this was. There were perks, sure, but they didn't make up for almost dying. Mako raised an eyebrow at Ryan's statement about his Persona- seemed like there was something new about this power they held.

Our Personas can change? Fancy that. I wonder what that entails... As he was pondering this fact, another topic of conversation was brought up by Samuru. Mako turned toward them to throw in his own thoughts on the subject.

"I was running an investigation of my own, before I joined these guys. No one who the team has rescued has been targeted again. Whether that means the cult thinks they've already accomplished their 'mission,' or they're afraid of police intervention on a repeat target, they don't seem to want to risk it at all. If they do try it, though..." Mako flexed his right hand, the links of the chain wrapped around it clinking and straining against each other quietly, "...I'll finish what I started the last time they tried to take me." A small, vicious part of him, left over from his Shadow, took pleasure at the thought of that. He smirked unpleasantly.

"Whatever the case, Samuru, I don't think we really have cause to worry, anywhere but in here. But in here? We're the dangerous ones. Fun turnabout, wouldn't you say?" As he was finishing his statement, Mako noticed their surroundings. Particularly the huge torii, and the stairs underwater just behind it. Curious. Did someone's Shadow spawn this? Or is it something else? His surprise and confusion was only enhanced as the group walked down the stairs toward their destination.

"Hopefully we can get some good training in, while we're here. Not just because of the cult- I'd like to try and see what those 'meals' at the Velvet Room entail. With the rewards they grant, I'd imagine there's quite a challenge to getting them." He locked eyes with Sato, waiting for his lead, considering he'd been here before.

The day after that joint meeting in the Velvet Room, Rui gave Kami a call regarding the warehouse. It seems they were given free reign of the place. It looks like he looked into it with Kazuki too, and it was confirmed that the place was actually property of Tadao's father, the older man who accompanied Kazuki who seemed to be busy working or getting everyone supplies. It seemed to him Tadao was the very competent one of that group.

Still, this meant the place was free for them to use as they please... Last he remembered it definitely could use more furniture...

"Kami, do you have any spare furniture? We could use to make that place a bit more homely, ask Kazuki too", Kami responded with an affirmative,

"Yeah, my dad was about to throw out an old coffee table, but that's all I got. There's a garage sale not too far from the warehouse though so we could check that out too", with that decided they headed out for the day.

---

By the time Rui had showed up to the warehouse to deliver some furniture, it seemed Kotori, Ayano, Ryan, Mako, Sato and Samuru were there. They had decided to head in to explore Seto on their own. He also noticed a blue door at the far end of the warehouse... That was likely the Velvet Room, he'll have to check that out later.

"Hm, you guys are going in there on such a nice day?... Well, I guess it's fine. We'll stay here, in case something bad happens we can come in and assist you guys when that happens", with simple farewells they were showed away. On the other hand Kotori seemed to make herself busy reading a book on the sofa in the warehouse. She was quite absorbed in her book though, he didn't want to disturb her...

He signalled to Kami and Kazuki, and Tadao, who were behind him to not disturb her, as they set around furnishing the warehouse.

They put in quite a few things, there was a table and chair set, coffee table as mentioned, a few lawn chairs, there was even an old rug, camp gazebo, coat hanger, which Kazuki insisted on taking, a bunch of misc chairs and Tadao brought an old arm chair his father was going to sell. Later in the day Tadao said he was going to bring some spare wood to make some shelves too.

All the while, Kotori didn't even notice the entire place was being furnished around her.

---

With that decided the group headed into the Mirror World. Upon entering, the party was met with what looked like a portal, it was a sharded mirror portal, floating in the air as it were, but they can see what is on the other side. Ayano recognized it as the village where Kami and such had fought the Oni, Sato would remember it.

Upon entering they were met with the village, which had become a safe zone of sorts, on the exit away from the small forestry behind them was open fields, it seemed to be the natural way to progress. The strange underwater feel of the entire area was a little hard to get used to, to first timers they'd immediately try and hold their breath but find it wasn't possible.

Behind the party they heard the screech of a bird as Zeke landed on the roof of a building nearby... It seemed intent on watching over the party.

"I'll stay in the village as support. Explore at will", she stated simply.

As the party entered the fields ahead, the way forward was rather straightforward, there was a path and they should follow it, but eventually they came up to a cliff where they could survey the route from there... There were a few points of interest. There seemed to be a fairly large shadow just to the east up ahead, as well as a bridge it was guarding, but directly north was what appeared to be a hut of sorts. It had a few shadows visibly lurking near it, but with how open this area was they hadn't run into any shadows trying to ambush them just yet.

So it was up to them, try and clear the bridge, or head to the hut and look around?

As the group progressed into the initial area of Hyuga, they noticed a mysterious mirror floating in the air, portraying the village square where Sato had fought the oni. The others wouldn't recognize it, so he looked at the rest of the group and nodded. "This should lead us to the last place we've been to in Seto," he said, as he awkwardly climbed through the portal.

Once inside, Sato didn't feel the need to add to the conversation at hand. Mako summed up any point he would try to make, anyway, so Sato focused on carefully watching their surroundings. Ayano didn't seem to sense any shadows in the apparent safe area they had created upon defeating the Oni, but he felt it frugal to keep an eye out, just in case. There was little to note until they managed to exit the village down into an open field. Looking back, they could see the forest they could have passed through, but the mirror had circumvented it completely. If more of these portals would appear, it would definitely make navigating Seto much easier. The question was, though, how big even was Seto...? For some reason, though, upon leaving the safe area, the air suddenly felt heavier-- a familiar suffocating feeling that permeated the mirror world. Except, this time, it felt a lot more drowning... He'd felt it the last time he was in Seto, but it was still a foreign feeling compared to the average dungeon they went to.

Behind them, Zeke screeched as it perched upon a roof, apparently watching over them. Ayano decided to stay near the bird to provide support from a distance as the rest of the team explored. Sato's first instinct was to confirm if there was a shadow presence, and Ayano almost immediately confirmed the suspicion. It was hard to tell where, but there was definitely something lurking around ahead... Cautiously, Sato lead the group up to a cliffside that allowed the team to observe the rest of the paths. The only notable things were a bridge being guarded by a large shadow, and a shack surrounded by some weaker looking shadows. There didn't seem to be anywhere else to go in sight, so these seemed to be the only options they had. Of course, splitting up would be ill-advised, so they were going to have to decide which one to take on as a group.

"Bridge, or the hut..." Sato posed the question, thinking to himself quietly. The only real path seemed to be over the bridge, so someone would probably have to take it out sooner or later, but exploring around the hut might reveal either another way to go or something that could prove useful in future battles. All in all, though, Sato figured it would be good to be thorough when exploring Seto as to not miss anything potentially important, so they were probably going to do both anyway. "I'd say we should take out the weaker shadows first, and then see if we can handle the bigger one afterwards. What do you guys think?"

As they moves into the first area of Seto everybody noticed a weird mirror floating in the air, Sato said that it would lead to the last area they had been in. Ryan shrugged and climbed through after Sato, immediately feeling a change in pressure.

Ryan looked around to make sure nothing would surprise them, but Ayano didn't mention any Shadows so it was probably safe. Probably. Looks like this is a safe area then. Makes sense that the Mirror wouldn't drop them in the middle of a group of enemies. They exited the village and appriached an open field, there was a forest behind them but they had managed to go around it with the Mirror. Handy thing. Hopefully it would do that often because it seemed like Seto was a lot bigger than he initially thought. Ryan breathed in deeply as he realized he was subconsciously holding his breath. This was definitely gonna take some getting used to, the question is did he want to get used to this oppressive place?

Ryan flinched as Zeke screeched from behind them, landing on a roof to watch them and provide aerial support. He remembered the first time he saw that thing, it had bombed a bunch of Shadows that had quite frankly been whupping everyone's ass. They scouted ahead, Ayano stayed behind with Zeke, and got to a nearby cliff to survey the land. Ayano told everyone there were Shadows to the east and to the north. Big Shadow at the bridge and small Shadows at the hut.

"I say we head to the hut first. Clear out the trash mobs then deal with the big guy." That's of course assuming they don't immediately come fusing to each other's aid. Which was very possible. Either way Ryan liked exploring as much as possible, he did it in video games and he would do it here.

@EnterTheHero@floodtalon@Sen@Sho Minazuki

Samuru Amakusa

"The hut first, then," Samuru agreed. "The weaker Shadows might be guarding something important. And yes, this might be useful training; I'm less familiar with this world than you guys." A flash of jealousy at how capable his new friends were, but also a flash of pride. He was one of them now, and that was what mattered.

"So," he would ask, "who shall take point? From what I can sense from my Persona, he - we - can both heal and take physical damage very well. It's restricted in options for damaging people, but that can be worked around." A pause to get an answer. After said pause, if said answer was agreement, Samuru would take point and go first, waiting for a singal to openly distract the enemy Shadows.

If said answer wasn't a sign of agreement, Samuru would wait for a more detailed battle plan and strategy; he had quickly learned to respect Sato and his judgement.

Waking up on a couch, her blue hairs a mess, Fubuki rubbed her eyes. "The shit was that dream?" was all she managed to mumble as he sat up, still half-asleep. She'd had some really rough nights on this couch, and plenty of odd dreams, but none quite like that last one. She was about to dismiss it as just another fever dream until she felt something in her pocket. Reaching in to feel the cold metal, and pulling it out, Fubuki needed no time at all to realize what this key was. It took her a moment to realize the name of the person she got it from, though, who just happened to be the leading competitor for 'weirdest thing in the dream'.

Deciding it was time to properly wake up and check the schedule for the day, Fubuki turned to her makeshift table*, and brushed the empty cups and cans from the table into the bucket next to it. With her table cleared, she pulled her backpack away from the side of the couch, retrieved the laptop from inside and put it on the table. A few clicks later, Fubuki was staring at a digital planner, but it was mostly empty for today. The only mention read; "Get furniture."

*Fubuki's makeshift table: A large wooden board on some concrete blocks. Not very pretty, but it gets the job done.

---

With her dayplanning limited to a single activity, Fubuki calmly made her way through town. Furniture stores were all extremely expensive, and while she had been saving up, Fubuki doubted she could buy more than a single piece of furniture. As luck would have it, she managed to find a garage sale near the edge of town, though someone seemed to have beaten her to it. They were just leaving as she arrived, and there hadn't really been anything interesting left afterwards. More importantly, something felt off. She'd recognized a few of them as students from the same school she attended, and even a few from the crazy dream, though she couldn't quite figure why they'd be interested in furniture. Perhaps their situation was the same as hers? With her interest peaked, Fubuki decided to just follow them.

She'd almost lost them on the way, but eventually managed to notice them again by the furniture they carried. They were all inside already when Fubuki reached the warehouse, they had a bit of a headstart on her after all. Without a care in the world, Fubuki stepped in the warehouse. After taking a moment to behold the cozy setting the group was creating, she commented in her standard, nonchalant tone.

"Pardon the intrusion. Quite a nice setup you guys have here. Mind if I stick around for a while?"

@Sho Minazuki

---

Mako, at Sato's suggestion, looked down at their options. As much as he'd like to prove his skills against the larger Shadow, it was probably a bad idea to just charge in against a possibly-dangerous opponent. On the other hand, if it was sufficiently powerful, maybe it would be best to get it out of the way first, without wearing themselves down on the mobs. He tapped his foot. Decisions, decisions...

Just as Mako was about to open his mouth to offer his suggestion, it appeared that Ryan and Samuru were keen on answering for him, both advocating going after the mobs. Hmm. Well... he did need a warm-up, before the exercise, he supposed. He gripped the chain in his right hand a little tighter, same with the hatchet in his left. His mouth twisted slightly- he really should get some better weaponry. Maybe he could get some gauntlets from the Velvet Room, or elsewhere in here...?

"Well, I guess I'm outvoted. We go clear out the mobs, then, I guess." He turned toward Sato. "If that's alright with you?"

The others seeed to quickly reach a consensus on taking out the smaller shadows first, and immediately after, the group seemed to turn to Sato for further instruction. The sudden thrust into leadership felt jarring to him, as he was unused to not having to listen to Rui, their natural-born leader. Well, he was the most experienced out of his current group though, so maybe that was also only natural. As for strategy, though, he didn't have much of an idea of what to do. They didn't really know much about their enemies, so a broad role-casting was all they could really decide on for now.

"Okay, looks like we're going to clear out the cabin and proceed from there." Sato nodded to the others. "If his persona really is particularly resilient, then it'd be best for Samuru to take the front-lines as he suggested. Mako can take the fight up-front as well, while Ryan and I support from behind. It's our first fight in Seto and Samuru's first time in combat, so let's take it carefully."

With that brief plan, Sato drew his bow and motioned for the group to proceed towards the hut. The group quickly found a good path down from their surveying perch, and slid down the side of the dirt cliff and onto the path that lead to both the bridge and the hut. He didn't know what Samuru's defenses were really like, but he couldn't do much but wait and see as they approached the group of shadows effectively guarding the shack. Summoning Chronos, Sato took a battle stance, ready for the fight to start.

"Hm?", as Rui was setting down the last of a few chairs he noticed someone new had walked in. It was Fubuki, they had rescued her some days ago, and she showed up in the Velvet Room in that dream too, furthermore he had spoken to her about what they were doing.

"I guess this means I don't have to show you where we all meet up if you've found this place. I take it you'll be joining us then?", he asked. He always extended an offer after telling people the basics, and would tell the details later. He still waited for her answer, and Samuru's came rather quickly, but considering she was included in the dream, her refusal was incredibly unlikely.

---

As the party continued down the path and took the established route towards the small hut, it was as they had seen, just a few shadows roaming directly around it. As soon as the party got close enough they were noticed and the shadows erupted into what looked like demons, they even spoke a bit.

Before the party was two Unicorns, and a Decarabia. This posed a question... Why are their encounters with shadows so different here than with the isolated dungeons...? Regardless it doesn't seem anyone here had the answer to that, all there was to do was fight.

"Huuuh? Who're they? Are they intruding on our picnic?!", spoke the Unicorn. The Decarabia frantically insisted that this was a private event and no one else was invited. Before any of the party could speak they were forced to halt any step forward as a Unicorn struck the ground in front of them with a Zionga. They seemed intent on fighting.

They seemed fairly weak though. It shouldn't take much effort to end them.

@EnterTheHero@floodtalon@Sen@Sho Minazuki

Samuru Amakusa

"Persona!" Samuru raised his arms, summoning Shiro to protect himself, before turning to the Shadows.

"Wait, you guys can talk?!" that meant that they can be negotiated with, right? "If so, this doesn't have to end in your destruction!"

This seemed to further enrage the monsters, and they further attacked with a combination of physical attacks and magic!

"Shiro, defend normally!" Samuru said, before trying again as his Persona drew the attention of the present enemy. "Please! I'm sure a settlement can be reached; we're all sapient beings, aren't we?!" But the enemy continued to attack.

"All right, fine!" the eighteen-year old said as this kept on going for a few more moments. "Shiro, Dekunda and Deathbound!"

The Persona nodded, as if exasperated with not being able to wage holy war immediately against a deserving enemy, and cast a wave of light that removed the enemy's strengthening spells, before making a wide slash with a giant katana that had just suddenly appeared in the Person's hands.

The Decarabia was obliterated, while the Unicorns were gravely wounded.

"Now please yield or I will give this deathblow to my friends!" Samuru said to the two equine monsters.

The party quickly engaged the shadows, but upon closer inspection, Sato realized they were still unlike the shadows they'd seen in the dungeons. They seemed to be like the Oni he'd fought before, which made him wonder if they were similarly 'made' of glass. Were they 'reflections' of something, if this was the mirror world...?

Sato ignored the thought, as the Unicorn gave a warning shot in the form of a Zionga. It seemed that they were as aggressive as any other shadow, despite their insistence that they were having a picnic when they were rudely interrupted by the group of persona-users, so a fight was unavoidable. Sato prepared to blast them away with a Garudyne, but stopped himself when Samuru stepped forward in what looked like an attempt to negotiate with the shadows. It seemed like an interesting course of action that Sato had previously not considered, and he almost respected the pacifist line of thinking, but any good will towards Samuru was clearly lost on the battlefield as the shadows merely ignored his pleas and attacked them at will.

Fortunately, though, Samuru quickly realized the fate of the situation and ended up burning down their defenses with a strong Deathbound. The Decarabia was instantly eviscerated by the blast, while the two Unicorns stood their ground despite the damage it inflicted.

"Man, these are some weak shadows," Sato muttered to himself. Was it even worth exerting the energy to kill them...? Probably not. Opting to lower his bow as the Unicorns stood solemnly beside each other, Sato nodded to his team-mates to finish them off for him. It felt like a mob boss ordering his lackeys to cut off a loose link, for lack of better metaphor.