---

Mako exhaled shakily in the aftermath of Ryan's attack. Something had happened, for sure. He felt... energized. Extremely so. Like his superpowers had superpowers. He clenched a fist, grinning- this was gonna be good. He focused back on the enemy Shadow, dueling with both Ryan and the newbie's Persona, then turned back toward his allies.

"It doesn't look like Physical attacks are affecting it very much... Everyone! Stop attacking physically and switch to magic! Samuru, get your Persona out of the way- I'm about to take a swing!" After waiting a few seconds for Samuru to follow his instructions, he summoned Israfil again, grinning madly- this was gonna be good.

"Let's show this guy how it's done, Israfil! Burn him!!" As the Agidyne brewed underneath the enemy Shadow, Mako could already feel the heat from where he was standing. Hopefully everyone was far enough away. The effect of Ryan's ability was, quite literally, explosive- a massive column of flame erupted underneath the Shadow's feet, engulfing it in white-hot flame. Mako blinked in surprise, then smiled again.

"Nice... Ryan! Keep us posted on when you can do that again! We'll make an opening for you to strike when you can!"

@Sen@Letter Bee@floodtalon

Kotori Shirohane - Abandoned Warehouse | Thursday

Following Rui's question whether she would join them, Fubuki's immediate reaction was one of confusion. Given that the only time she'd been present at a talk about joining the group was when it had been her own turn, Kotori was a little unsure whether this was a good or bad thing. Still, seeing as she was neither running away nor calling them crazy - not quite surprising, given that she'd already seen the Mirror World first hand - Fubuki did seem at least inclined to listen; asking Rui to sit down and explain it all in detail - and leading Kotori to blink in surprise at the sudden boldness of declaring him the boy of her dreams. Said surprise only lasted for a moment, however, before she realised that she was talking about the meeting in the Velvet Room earlier - if there was such a thing as 'earlier' in that place.

As Fubuki was introducing herself in turn, Kotori saw some movement out of the corner of her eye - which turned out to be Akane who was just entering the warehouse as well. "Ah, good day, Hanazawa-san," Kotori said with a quick bow as her classmate moved past the small assembly of people in order to take nearby seat. Following Fubuki's words, Akane's usual straight-forward ways made themselves known once more as she questioned Fubuki's reason for even showing up if she didn't know exactly what was going on. Fearing that her classmate's blunt honesty might come off as a little off-putting, Kotori tried to assuage any ire - at least, she would have if she'd known what to say. Instead, she glanced between Fubuki and Akane for a moment, her mouth opening as if to say something but finding no words before Rui spoke up instead.

Whilst the other three boys busied themselves with setting up another piece of furniture in the back of the warehouse, Rui led Fubuki over to a table surrounded by slightly worn chairs with Kotori following a small ways behind - and only now noticing the strange fact that there was a table where thin air had been just minutes prior. Or at least that's what it had felt like, given how easily she got lost in books and thus failed to notice how time passed. Standing a few steps away, she finally looked about - and realised that all the while she'd been engrossed in the story of the book she was still holding in her hands, the boys had already carried and set up a whole host of furniture.

With a nigh-inaudibly mumbled "S-sorry..." Kotori quickly moved over to one of the empty seats when she in turn realised that this also meant that she hadn't done the slightest thing to help them all throughout; her guilty conscience immediately making itself known as she sat down and overpowering any slight joy at having come up with much the same idea earlier, given that she hadn't gone and actually turned thought into action unlike them. Rui meanwhile had already begun explaining the situation to Fubuki, about how the Mirror World was indeed real - for a given measure of the word - and that with the awakening of her persona, she might be able to help others like they'd done for her.

As he finished, Kotori lifted her down-turned eyes to glance between the two from behind her glasses - and at Akane, who'd made herself comfortable in another chair as well. She wanted to say something to help Fubuki make up her mind - but seeing as she knew nothing more about both the Mirror World and the phenomenon of Personas, there was little more she could do but give an encouraging smile.

At least, that's what she tried - the result was more of a wry half-smile with an apologetic streak when her gaze was met with the sight of Kaminari, Tadao and Kazuki debating over the exact kind of screw that was supposed to be used on the piece they were working on.

TRACK: Keeper of Lust

The Concentrated Agidyne burned a good chunk of Zouchouten's vitality as Ayano observed from her Persona's abilities, although it seemed Ryan and Sato were not taking any proper action. Ryan would retain his Charge/Concentrate buff, but it was still a missed chance, fortunately Zouchouten was still affected by Debilitate.

Seizing the opportunity the warrior demon chose a new target and took a powerful upswing at Sato, striking him with a Giant Slice, before turning to Ryan again and doing a regular attack. It seemed Ryan was getting a bit low now as his breath began to become heavy.

"Ah! Ryan needs healing!", she informed. Zouchouten did not look daunted by his opposition, but the magical prowess that some of them possessed was going to prove to be a threat.

@floodtalon@EnterTheHero@Sen@Letter Bee

Samuru Amakusa

"Come at me! Come at me instead of my friends!" shouted Samuru to Zouchouten, trying to attract the 'Heavenly King's' attention.

"Shiro!" he shouted to his Persona, "can you cast behind you?" A nod from the entity.

"Then cast Mediarama!" the young man said, and a wave of green-ish light emanated from Shiro, closing the wounds of Sato and Ryan unless Zouchouten did something else.

Of course, this depleted the Persona's reserves of magical energy, but it didn't matter; disagreements or not, Samuru was going to stand beside his friends.

"It doesn't look like Physical attacks aren't affecting it very much... Everyone! Stop attacking physically and switch to magic!" Mako had called out, noting the shadow's unflinching resistance to their attacks. Sato frowned at the realization; they were going to have to rely only on magic, but it didn't seem to have any weakness they could exploit. After the group had been hitting it for a while, Zouchouten finally decided to retaliate, taking a swing at Ryan. It seemed to be a glancing blow at worst, leaving Ryan still fit for battle, but a direct blow would be devastating.

The shadow seemed to be going to try to hit Ryan again, so Sato quickly summoned Chronos again and used another Garudyne to try to stop its advance. The blast didn't seem to be particularly strong compared to the group's last few attacks, but it still seemed to catch Zouchouten's attention. After that, it seemed it had finally considered Sato a big enough threat to deal with, as it reared up its weapon and took a swing at Sato. He tried to dodge, but he reacted too slowly and the blow sent him flying backwards a fair distance, breaking his persona and crumpling him on the ground. After a few moments of trying to swallow the pain, Sato pushed himself up from the ground, but had to stop to clutch his injury. A long gash went up his side, a stream of blood rushing out. It wasn't life-threatening, but it really hurt like a bitch. Thankfully, Samuru quickly responded with a Mediarama to quell the pain, a wave of light closing their wounds and erasing any trace of previous damage... But, even though the gash had been close, Sato could still feel the pain, his head a little cloudy.

"Tch, its physical attacks are strong..." Sato wiped a small line of blood from his mouth. "If that's how it's gonna be... Chronos, use Tetrakarn!" At his command, Chronos spun its scythe and summoned a barrier around Ryan. Though the shadow wouldn't take much damage from a reflected blow, blocking a hit would prove useful against something that hits as hard as Zouchouten. After buffing Ryan, Sato decided to just stand back for a bit and watch the fight carefully. Making more foolish mistakes would just result in more injuries.

The attack Ryan used didn't do too much to Zouchouten, it seemed like it resisted Physical, however everyone else did massive damage as they fired off their super charged attacks. Ryan was still recovering from his usage of the new skill, that had drained him way more than he imagined it would. Hopefully it wouldn't do that in the future as he got used to the initial level of stamina required to cast, but he had essentially skipped his turn which cost him. Zouchouten was about to swing at him when Sato got the Shadow's attention and took the blow for him.

"Shit, Sato!" Ryan began to run towards Sato to help him but then Zouchouten turned it's attention back to Ryan and swung his blade once more. He practically saw it coming in slow motion but he just couldn't muster up the energy to dodge, not while he was already running towards Sato. He crossed his arms and took the blow head on, rolling across the ground and coughing up a bit of blood. He could vaguely hear somebody in the bacground yelling that he needed healing and he completely agreed. Ryan struggled to sit up and summon Geraint for some healing, luckily new guy has him covered as he cast Mediarama on everyone, including him. It was a strange feeling, feeling your rent flesh knit itself back together and your cracked ribs solidify and move back into place. The phantom pain of the wounds lingered, but Ryan pushed through it and got up.

"Alright, this is exactly why I hate you fuckers." He growled lowly at the Shadow as he held his hand out and crushed his Persona card. At the same time Sato summoned Chronos and cast Tetrakarn on him, kinda felt like an invisible pane of glass surrounded him. Geraint appeared before him and reflected Ryan's anger within his stance, very aggressive and ready to strike out. Geraint held its blade out towards Zouchouten and a light began to build underneath it's feet, exploding into a pillar of blinding holy magic. Ryan smirked, looks like he got more than just one new skill. Kougaon, holy light made to smite his foes. Sick.

TRACK: Keeper of Lust

With Ryan getting healed up and guarded by a Tetrakarn, it seems things were swinging back into their favor. The blast of holy magic onto Zouchouten chunked a good amount of it's health, enough to make it keel. It seems the shadow was on it's last legs. As the light from the Mediarama began to fade, their opening was there to them. Debilitate had just worn off shortly after the Kougaon landed.

Zouchouten in defiance attempted to strike back, doling out a Swift Strike and striking everyone, but making contact with the Tetrakarn at the same time as Zouchouten was knocked back off it's feet by it's own attack. It seems this was their chance to end it.

After the party was freshly shielded and healed, Ryan took out his anger back on the Zouchouten with one last Kougaon before the sickly aura radiating from the shadow dissipated into the air. It seemed the Debilitate Mako had used finally ran out, so if there was a time to finish it off, it'd be now. It seemed Zouchouten felt the same, though, as it shook off the Kougaon the best it could and launched a counterattack on them. Swinging its weapon wildly, it hit the party with a Swift Strike, though the damage was nowhere near as bad as the direct hit Sato had suffered.

It would've been bad to have everyone hit by it, but fortunately, the barrier Sato had put up on Ryan had been activated by the attack, exploding in the shadow's face and sending it tumbling backwards off its feet by the power of its own attack. Now that it was on the floor, even for a moment, the team had a clear opening for a final assault on the shadow, which should finish it off once and for all. "Let's end this now!" Sato called out to the others, nodding to Ryan as he called for an all-out attack. At that, the entire group sprung into action, rushing in with weapon and persona to hit it with everything they had. Blasts of magic, wind and light, cracked through the air, and explosions of physical force tore through the shadow like paper.

Once everyone had done what they could, the group jumped away from the shadow, waiting for the dust to clear to see if it still stood. Sato knew, though, that there was no way it survived that.

The Debilitate Mako had cast had finally run out so the Shadow went on the offensive, shaking off the damage Ryan had dealt and lashing out at everyone with a Swift Attack. It hurt everyone else a bit, but it bounced it right off Ryan and exploded in Zouchouten's face, knocking him back down on his ass. He would have to thank Sato for that later, but now it was time to finish things.

"Lets end this! Time for an All Out Attack!" He called out at the same time as Sato, smiling and nodding at him. Great minds think alike. Everyone sprung into action, Ryan throwing out Kouagon after Kougaon at Zouchouten while also slashing at him viciously with his knives. Every hit count.

As if the group was of one mind they all backed off at the same time, waiting for the dust ti settle and ti see if it was still alive. Judging grom the beating they had just dealt, it was unlikely to say the least.

---

Mako flinched upon being struck by the Shadow's Swift Strike attack, but only just. He had enough stamina that the attack wasn't going to slow him down much. Not that he'd have much more of an opportunity to use said stamina- apparently, Sato had cast some reflective spell on Ryan- as soon as the attack approached him, it suddenly rebounded directly into the Shadow's face, knocking it off its feet. Just afterward, Sato called for everyone to finish it off. Mako grinned maliciously, holding his hatchet at the ready. He could do that.

"Gotcha. Eat thermal shock, asshole!" shouted Mako, leaping into the fray with Agidyne, Bufudyne, and liberal applications of hatchet edge against tough (though not tough enough) Shadow flesh. As the dust settled, Mako forced himself to catch his breath, trying to keep his teammates in his range of vision, and the place where the Shadow once was. And might still be, if it somehow survived that last assault.

@Sen@floodtalon@Letter Bee

Samuru Amakusa

Zouchouten was on his last legs, and Samuru was glad his Persona was healed by the kinetic energy from physical attacks (or at least, that was what he thought was the mechanics behind 'Drain Physical'). He would then say:

"Shiro, Deathbound, now! Attack at the same time as the others!" He would then jump back once the command was implemented, sure that the combined attack was going to end the battle. Once said confirmation came, Samuru would look at Ryan, before saying, "Hopefully we get a new 'card' out of this. It might be interesting to have a non-physical means of attack, in order to enhance my Persona's ability to contribute to the battle."

@EnterTheHero@floodtalon@Sen@Sho Minazuki

TRACK: Keeper of Lust

The relentless assault as the finishing blow blew Zouchouten away as it shattered into mirror shards, every bit of it's being began to crumble away before simply shattering and scattering to the wind. The party began to hear words within their heads, was it this shadow's lingering thoughts...? Or that which had constituted it?

"The Great Leader's desire is ours! His faith is our faith... It seems mad... But we must believe...", relating to the cult...? Perhaps this truly was the correct path to take.

As soon as Zouchouten was defeated they could cross the bridge now, though upon reaching it's apex they spotted some cards laying on the ground, right around where Zouchouten had completely disappeared... Skill cards? They have interesting illustrations on them, though upon holding them, the four were able to understand what the cards had within and allowed them to do... Were these the cards referenced when they were in the Velvet Room? Only one way to check, and that was enter and ask.

"Good work everyone. I'm sensing the sign up ahead has a connection to the village... Could you confirm? I think by using it, it should let you travel to and from the village", Ayano noted.

Upon reaching it and touching the signpost, it is as they had been told... They could clearly visualize the village, and once they tapped into that image they were suddenly back in the village square... Now was a good time as any to stop for the day.

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru would take a Skill Card that portrayed a blast of brilliant light damage, and as he put it in his pocket, realize that he now had the means of magical attack that he had asked for earlier. After hearing Ayano's voice, the young man would nod, then walk towards the signpost, touching it. Jolting slightly at the surprisingly vivid image in his head, Samuru then concentrated, and a few seconds later, he was back in the village.

Looking behind him, the young man would say, "So, want to go back to the warehouse; report to Rui what we've found?" Then, turning to Sato, Samuru would continue, "You kept a cool head, even when I was...less than helpful. Sato Hashimoto, I have a lot to learn from you."

Then, to Mako and Ryan, he spoke, "You two were awesome as well, and I must admit to feeling some envy of your skills and ferocity, the latter which I cannot match. I hope to be your support and defense in the future, if you are both willing."

@EnterTheHero@floodtalon@Sen@Sho Minazuki

It's been around a week since summer break had begun, besides the odd venture into the mirror world to investigate Seto, it's mostly just been people showing up to the warehouse like some commons before heading home for the night. Here Rui was sitting with Kami and Kazuki who both happened to be in today. The three were mostly just discussing moving further into Seto, which they would do soon, seems they were nearing the end of the fields that Ryan, Mako, Samuru and Sato headed into. The fields were theirs now, but a barrier blocked the way into what looked like a fishing village just beyond a small forest.

Though the serious talk was broken up by Tadao who had entered.

"I see you're all hard at work",

"Yes, I deign we should clear Seto quickly, figure out where the cult leader is. My suspicion is he's somehow holed up on there, as everyone here has agreed that this is likely. The demons we faced all noted to protecting him, and were likely some of his subjects too", which had a lot of implications, considering the forms they ended up taking, if these were actual people that is. The mirror world held mostly manifestations of the abstract, so perhaps it wasn't as grim as suggested.

"Yes, and I've heard that the other day I was here. In short the barrier to the next area has yet to open?", everyone sat silent, yes this was true.

"Well, then that's perfect. I'm sure you're all exhausted from wracking your brains over this... So I'd like you all to enjoy your time as students. I'm working a regular job here in Warakuma, so I can't take a break. I can't take advantage of the fact that a new beach is opening not far from here. They finished the railwork to get there. I suggest you three take everyone down there for a day or two",

"'Enjoy our time as students' hm? While we have a menace on hand?",

"I think it'd be good. Kami here has been investigating non-stop and the small progress recently seems to be taking a toll".

"In... Indeed. Yeah... Though I'm not sure if I can even relax at this point. Maybe it is best I give it a try",

"And there's you answer... Tell everyone at your leisure. I'll pay for the trip. Just bring me back a souvenir okay? I hear this beach is right on a small village, so maybe some local specialties", and with that, Tadao was off. He seemed rather pleased with himself.

So it was decided... They were going to take a break, and head on to the beach.

"Hmmm... I guess the weekend will be good", Rui mused to himself, before the three got to sending everyone a message on their plans.

Kotori Shirohane - Shirohane Flowershop | Wednesday, July 29 2015

"Thank you very much," Kotori said as she gave a bow to the departing customer. As usual around this time of the year, the old man from down the street had come to pick up a bouquet of his wife's favourite flowers - a gesture that put a small smile on Kotori's face every year. Such events always did help make up for her ever-present dislike of standing at the counter of her family's flowershop - no matter how often she helped her mother out, her nervousness never could quite be abated. For that reason, she much preferred to be in the back room, watering the flowers, setting up new arrangements or getting the deliveries ready - but her mother had a knack of leaving her out front with the oddest smile as she busied herself otherwise. Kotori did occasionally wonder if her mother enjoyed seeing her fretting about whenever a stranger walked in - or, worse yet, a familiar face such as a fellow student.

Still, it had been a mostly quiet morning - unsurprisingly, given the propensity of families to go on trips, visit relatives or otherwise find themselves preoccupied elsewhere. There had only been a few visitors and a couple more passers-by who had taken a look at the vibrant display in the shop windows - a notion that made Kotori at least a little bit happy, seeing as she'd helped set them out. Coupled with the summery temperatures, she'd found her mind wandering more than a few times whilst she busied herself with tending to the flowers about the shop between visitors - mostly towards the novel that she'd picked up the day before from the library, but also what little that had been learned from the occasional foray into the Mirror World over the past few days.

Kotori was umming and ahhing over whether to turn a pot of chrysanthemums just that little bit more to the left or the right to put them in the best view when a sudden noise almost made her jump - even though she'd heard it quite a few times in recent weeks, she still was rather unused to the ringing of her own phone whenever she received a message. Looking up to make sure that she wouldn't be bothering any customer if she quickly checked her phone - and immediately regretting it when she saw the smiling face of the next door neighbour walking by outside, undoubtedly having seen her little display just now. With more than a little embarassment, Kotori quickly checked to see what exactly the message was about.

Her embarrasment almost immediately turned to worry when she saw from whom it was. A message from Rui usually meant another visit to the Mirror World was soon in order - whether to explore and understand that strange place or, worse yet, because someone had been kidnapped and forced into it. Almost hesitantly, Kotori checked the message - and found her worry turning into relief just a moment later when she realised that, for once, it was not a roundup call for an upcoming exploration of the Mirror World. This relief, however, was in turn quickly replaced by a slight confusion as she read on. As it turned out, it was a call for meeting indeed - but at quite a different place instead.

Kotori blinked in surprise, her brow furrowed above her glasses at the mention of a trip to the beach, courtesy of Tadao. Apparently, he wanted everyone to take a day off together as a sort of reward of rest for the continued endeavours in the Mirror World - and leaving Kotori feeling a little guilty as she wondered if she could just accept such a gift when she hadn't been part of the team for as long as some of the others or even been on every trip since then.

"Something interesting happen?" her mother's voice suddenly asked from behind her, leading Kotori to jump in fright for a second time in as many minutes and spin around to see her mother's wide smile - evidently, she was more than pleased with the reaction she'd just elicited. "Ah, just a few of my... friends are going to, well, the beach this weekend," Kotori said, glancing between the phone that she'd pressed close to her chest in her sudden surprise and her mother as she spoke. As she did, she could practically see her face light up in delight. "Oh, that's wonderful! When are you going? Does your swimsuit still fit you? Ah, that reminds me..."

---

Kotori blinked stupendously when she found herself standing outside the shop less than five minutes later, relieved of the green apron she wore whenever she helped out and instead clasping a shopping bag, some money and an absolute order to not return until she had everything she might need for a trip to the beach. Turning to look back, her mother gave her a beaming smile as she enthusiastically waved her off - leaving Kotori with no choice but to head off toward Ferrero Mall.

The party's attack was far more power than needed, practically obliterating Zouchouten away into a fine dust cloud of glass. Upon destroying it, an ominous voice resounded in their heads, but Sato made little sense of it before it faded away. Who was this 'Great Leader'? Hadn't both the cult members and the shadows made mention of them? Regardless of the message's meaning, though, the team took a moment to catch their breath before they advanced forward onto the cleared bridge now that there were no shadow readings nearby. Another pile of cards gently floated to the ground in front of them, however, so each member curiously took one. Upon turning it over, the front of it seemed to pulse and inject a clear understanding of it into the persona user's head.

>Chronos learned "Mahamaon!"

Seeing as the team was exhausted after the last couple of battles, the team proceeded forward a bit only to stop at the sign on the other side of the bridge, enabling it to connect to the rest of the transportation network. In other words, they could seamlessly warp from the bridge to the other two warp points they had found. How many other points were there, though? The question would fade away into Sato's head as the team proceeded back out of Seto and to the warehouse.


"Good job, team." Sato called out to the other four as he stepped out of the mirror world, but he was surprised to see that someone had taken the time to clean up the warehouse while they were gone and provide some basic furnishings. All they really had before was a chair or two and the table where they threw all their junk, so seeing some level of homeliness was comforting to see. The others seemed to be enjoying a conversation amongst themselves, so Sato decided not to intrude, but he threw a wave to the new girl they had recently rescued. Hopefully she would indeed join the team, and she likely had considering how much she was integrating already.

After putting his equipment away, Sato excused himself from the expidition squad they had formed and wandered over to the corner of the Warehouse, staring curiously at the velvet door standing there. He looked back at the others, all of whom seemed unconcerned with it to some degree, so he decided that it was in fact no mirage and instead the common thread between them-- the Velvet Room...

---

After opening the door, Sato had found his vision blurring until it revealed that he was sitting at the dining table like usual in those dreams. Curiously, looking around would show that all the other figures were blurred, implying that he was the only one "connected" to the room at that moment. The menu that Henrietta had introduced to them was sitting before him as she had told them that it would be, so Sato decided that he would try "ordering" something from it.

>Sato ordered from the dessert menu...

>Chronos learned "Makarakarn", and "Kouga"!

>"Kouga" was infused into Sato's Practice Yumi!

Sato decided that he wasn't quite ready for tackling any of the challenges, considering his current state and lack of any planning, so he was content with just mucking around the dessert menu. Hopefully whatever he did would turn out well in combat, but that'd have to be revealed another day...

---

JULY 29TH 2015, WEDNESDAY
Midday
Sato was currently shifting through a wall of books at the library when his phone started lighting up. He set aside his stack of novels and swiped open his phone, only to see Rui detailing details on a trip to the beach the up-coming weekend. It seemed pretty concrete already, and apparently those rich kids from the private school intended on paying for all expenses so that they could just enjoy the whole trip. He didn't have any plans, so he decided he might as well go. Plus, it'd be a good chance to hang out with Mako. Though, it might be embarrassing, seeing him like that...

Sato sent a quick confirmation that he'd come, and asked Mako what he was gonna do. Then he quietly continued shifting through all the books for anything that seemed remotely interesting, albeit this time a bit more absent-mindedly as he considered the possibilities of a beach trip with all the others.

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru blinked as he saw the text message. Beach trip, just like in Nagasaki? What would be the harm...or the benefit? That he didn't know. Well, he should go; his friends are waiting for him.

Are they really your friends? part of his mind thought. They accept you for who you are, yes, but they are...cold to you otherwise. Samuru had to admit that part of that was his own fault, for insisting on negotiation with flipping' Shadows. The young man knew better than to delude himself that such thoughts aren't his'; they were. He just didn't like them.

"Acknowledge your thoughts as yours, own up to your faults," he whispered to himself, looking around his room which was covered in anime posters. Lying on top of his bed, he would send a text message saying he was coming...

One more thing, his thoughts spoke, when we confronted each other again in The Velvet Room, when you faced your Shadow once more...it took twelve hours in order to wear it down, right? What a loser. Another nod of acceptance, acceptance that he did loathe himself, even after overcoming his main issues.

@Sho Minazuki

They vaporised the Shadow to be quite frank, it never stood a chance against an assault of that caliber. Words echoed in the wind, perhaps stray thoughts from the person this Shadow came from? A Great Leader huh? He could practically hear the unspoken capitalization in those words, this Shadow was probably a cult members. Does that mean they just gave him a Persona by killing his Shadow? No, that doesn't make any sense, he only got his Persona when he accepted his Shadow. Nevertheless it was time to move on and pick up their reward as a pile of cards floated to the ground. Everyone took one, Ryan taking his after Sato. He turned the card over and instinctively knew what it was. The mysteries this strange land held...

>Geraint learned Charge!

Everyone was basically dead on their feet, so they progressed to the other side of the bridge, strangely undamaged by their intense battle, connecting it to the teleportation network. How extensive was this web of reality bending transportation? The only way to find out was to continue, but not today.


"Good stuff guys." He said mainly to Sato and Mako. It was gonna take awhile for him to warm up to Samuru after todays events. The entire warehouse was cleaned in the time they were gone, with furnishings being moved in as well as a new girl. He did a basic nod towards her to acknowledge her, hopefully she would join but it didn't matter either way. They had so many people that it was starting to get kinda hard to coordinate everyone. They should start a group chat.

He threw his equipment into its usual corner, seeing a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Ryan turned his head and noticed Sato walking into a floating blue door. He rubbed his eyes and it was still there, so that could only mean one thing. Velvet Room. ryan grabbed his Hunting Knives from his equipment corner and waited for Sato to come out, entering after him. Time to figure out the whole menu thing...

---

Suddenly Ryan was sitting at the dining table with his usual fancy suit on. Everyone else was blurred, meaning he was the only one there at the moment. Kinda weird seeing a blurry hawk with a tophat. The menu sat before him, so Ryan picked it up and read through it.

>Ryan ordered from the Dessert Menu...

Henrietta served him a Root Beer Float as he decided to create an Arcane Weapon. He didn't expect to actually be served dessert but cool. He pulled out his hunting knives, 4 in all that were in various spots all over his body, and looked at Igor. "Is this how it works?"

>Ryan infused his Hunting Knives with Garudyne!

Now wasn't the time to take on the challenges, he was way too tired and he had a feeling he would need a friend to take them on. He finished up his Root Beer Float and bid farewell to Henrietta and Igor. Time to head home.

---

Ryan was browsing the internet in search of new anime when his phone buzzed. Rui had organized a beach trip apparently, meaning he needed a bathing suit. Ryan vaguely considered trying to back out, but he didn't have any plans and it would be kinda lame to back out because he was embarrassed by his body.

Ryan sent a confirmation and closed his laptop. Time to go shopping.

Warakuma Town was always a small town for quite some time, but because it was close enough to the city, while being not too far away from country towns, it was seen as having immense potential to becoming a new major residential. More people moving from the country towns to someplace more affordable and close enough to the city. As such, the very first thing that was built was the train terminal.

It's modern design really stuck out from Warakuma's still-mostly dated architecture, so it was really hard to miss. The very early hours of the morning dipped the air with a distinct chill, but as soon as one stepped out of the shade they would find that the sun had already begun blazing this time of morning. The train trip to the beach was roughly an hour long, so if they wanted to make it well before lunch they'd have to be up as early as 9. This was no issue for most of them, or at least it shouldn't be, they wake earlier for school after all.

Kazuki despite his dismissal of the event was already there with Megumi, who seemed somewhat excited, while Kazuki held a somewhat annoyed look. Rui had arrived not long after the rest, but as soon as they arrive all that was left was to wait.

Kotori Shirohane - Shirohane Residence | Saturday, August 1 2015 - Morning

A lazily waving hand found the alarm beeping away into the morning, letting silence fall over the room again. It was a good few seconds before the owner of said hand stirred in bed, slowly sitting up and blinking at the sunlit covers. Stretching her arms out to try and rid herself of her drowsiness, Kotori couldn't quite stifle a yawn as she reached for her glasses placed on the small nighstand beside her - though the clatter of a noteboke striking the ground did wonders for rousing her in surprise. It took her a moment before she realised that she'd accidentally knocked down her packing list for today - and the one she'd spent the past few days revising before making sure she had everything she needed for the day's trip. Incidentally, it was also the reason for her sleepiness.

Given how rarely she went out with other people - excepting perhaps the excursions into the Mirror World, though she could hardly count those as a leisurely activity - she'd been both nervous and excited at the prospect ever since she'd gotten the message and agreed to go along too. And even though she'd made sure to double-check her list - cross-referenced with advice from her mother and anything she might find in travel guides - and triple-checked that she'd packed everything the day before, she'd still kept herself awake half the night, tossing and turning in bed and generally unable to sleep. Still, the prospect of going to the beach - even with the continued mixed feelings - did make some inroads to casting off the lethargy as she rubbed her eyes before going about her morning routine.

---

"I'm off," Kotori called, to which her mother gave a smile as she waved her goodbye. "Have fun and a safe trip," she said, watching her daughter walk off before turning back inside, humming an old tune to herself all the while. Kotori meanwhile was heading toward the proposed meeting point that was the train station. A quick glance to her watch confirmed that she was still well on time - even if she slowed to peek into the bag slung over her shoulder for a last check to see that she hadn't forgotten anything that may have slipped past her notice the last seven time she'd looked. Her mind was placated when she found exactly what she expected within, crossing everything off her mental list that she'd come to know by heart after going over it often enough. The new book, A full bottle of sunblock, even though she'd already applied it at home, her newly-acquired swimwear, a towel and a spare just in case someone forgot theirs, a bottle of water should there be nowhere to get something to drink in the heat - all told, Kotori was more than prepared.

Kotori Shirohane - Warakuma Train Terminal | Saturday - Morning

As she drew closer to the train station, Kotori peered up from beneath the brim of her sun hat. The distinctive silhouette of the building really did stand out from the parts of town she'd just walked through - but at least that meant that it was hard to miss if someone happened to get lost around here. As she approached, Kotori took a moment to check her phone - just to be sure that the time and place of meeting hadn't mysteriously changed from five minutes ago. As it turned out, such was not the case and with her mind at ease - for now - she headed for the platform mentioned in the message.

The train station itself was rarely truly empty. Warakuma was large enough to have people boarding and exiting trains from morning light to the middle of the night even during the summer break - and as such, it came as little surprise when she passed the occasional familiar face; mostly being customers that she'd made deliveries to from her family's flower shop. She even saw a classmate with his family, carrying suitcases and evidently looking forward to spending some time away. However, it wasn't until she stepped onto the platform itself that Kotori caught sight of other members of the group she was a part of - though she was a little on the early side, it seemed that others were even more diligent.

Stepping forth a little more quickly, Kotori headed over to where Megumi was scolding Kazuki for his lack of enthusiasm in contrast to her own - and probably not for the first time this morning, either. "Uhm... good morning, everyone," she greeted hesitantly, giving a bow as she did after waiting for an opportune moment to interject between the two Shoujin students. Seeing as she hadn't really talked very much with either of them, Kotori did find some comfort in the fact that Rui was here too. Slipping her bag off her shoulder, she glanced around the platform to see who else was going to join them.