Chapter 3

*Recommended Music: I'll Face Myself-Battle- (Persona 4 Soundtrack)*

"Go!" Blake shouted. "Now!" There was no time to wait for a clear shot. Helia was in immediate danger already. A blast of wind from Ruby's Persona Summer Rose knocked the shadow off balance and gave Weiss time to construct a wall of ice between it and Helia using her glyphs. Shielded by the ice, Yang rushed in, grabbed Helia with one arm and her weapon with the other, and dragged them away from the shadow.

Yang was about to charge back in to punch the shadow in the face, as was her usual approach. "Wait, don't get close." Helia warned. "Trust me, you don't want to fight it hand-to-hand." Yang hesitated, not sure if she should take that particular piece of advice. After all, Helia did not know her very well and certainly did not know much about shadows. Still, something about the way she said it made Yang more inclined to listen.

"Do you have a better plan?" Yang asked. She wanted to trust Helia, but she needed a reason or at least an alternative. All the while, Weiss held the creature up with ice from her glyphs and Persona Ananke. Ruby did the same with wind but neither element seemed to be more than an annoyance if they did any damage at all. Blake's use of light and darkness likewise failed to produce any results. "Helia, come on." Yang implored. "Give me something or I'm charging it." Aigis opened up on the shadow with her guns. The bullets that struck the shadow's white, bone-like plates deflected off harmlessly, while those that struck its softer parts seemed only to make it angrier.

"If you have to fight it up close, at least use your Persona." Helia advised. "If it's at all like the thing it represents, it'll tear you to pieces if it gets the chance." It was not really her style, but that was a strategy Yang could work with. Things were still not going particularly well for the others. Labrys sent her Persona Ariadne to attack the shadow at close range. The Persona's first hit managed to stagger the shadow, but it almost immediately recovered and delivered a brutal strike of its own. The pain was clear on Labrys' face and she had her Persona retreat.

"Pallas Athena!" Aigis shouted, summoning her Persona. Her Persona took the form of a goddess in a flowing white dress, protected by a large, round blue shield and wielding a massive golden spear. It charged at the shadow, its spear deflecting off one of the shadow's plates. It attempted to counter with a swipe of its claw, and the Persona was pushed back after blocking with its shield. Ruby switched to another Persona, Isis, to help Weiss slow down the steadily advancing shadow using ice. Labrys and Aigis used their Personas to make hit-and-run attacks on the lumbering beast, but it was unclear if they were having any real effect.

"Enough!" The shadow growled with a distorted version of Coral's voice. Electricity arched between its claws before shooting out at its attackers. Aigis, Labrys and Ruby were almost instantly knocked out as the attack struck directly at their Personas' weaknesses. The attack was enough to send Weiss and Blake reeling as well.

Yang sent in her Persona Turan and blasted the shadow with fire. It roared in pain and charged straight at the Persona with unexpected speed, throwing it to the ground and slashing at it with its claws. Yang wisely withdrew her Persona before she was incapacitated. "That hurt it!" Yang announced. "Kill it with fire!" Weiss cycled Myrtenaster to fire dust as her Persona continued using ice to delay the shadow. It was a losing effort and she was forced to withdraw her Persona before it too was crushed by the beast. She launched a line of fire from Myrtenaster straight at the shadow, hitting her target dead center. Still the monster continued to advance. With the shadow's attention focused on Weiss, Blake managed to flank it and jump onto its back. She slashed at it with Gambol Shroud as it struggled futilely to reach her. With a growl, the creature's entire body was charged with electricity and Blake was knocked off by the shock, landing hard on her back.

The shadow began to turn toward the incapacitated Blake, but Weiss hit it with another shot from Myrtenaster. Leaving Blake where she lay, it lowered its shoulder and charged at Weiss, slamming into her with all its weight. Weiss was sent tumbling painfully across the ground. The monster went back for Blake, still dazed from the shock. A backhanded smack from its arm knocked Blake back to the ground. It strode to her and raised its foot to stomp on her. It brought its foot down but met unexpected resistance. Yang stood beneath the creature's gigantic foot, straining to hold it up. "Come on Blake, get out of here." Yang commanded. Blake sprung to her feet and slashed at the bottom of the shadow's foot. It roared angrily and stepped back. As Yang and Blake retreated, Yang summoned her Persona and repeatedly blasted the shadow with fire. Weiss was back on her feet doing the same and soon the creature stood in the center of a firestorm.

Desperately, the creature reverted to the form of Coral and got as close to Helia as possible. The others could no longer attack for fear of hitting her. For her part, Helia clutched her weapon and stared the shadow down. "Come on Helia, don't let me die again." The shadow pleaded.

"You stole his face." Helia said with tears in her eyes. "That is unforgivable." She leveled her weapon at the shadow and blasted it with her flamethrower. The shadow thrashed around as it burned before dissolving and disappearing. Helia dropped to the ground, crying. She was suddenly engulfed in a purple light. A tarot card descended from above and shattered before her. The image of a goddess surrounded by blinding light appeared above her. "Sulis." She said the name of her Persona.

Blake set about healing the others. Ruby, Labrys and Aigis had taken a beating, but they would be alright. "Something is wrong." Aigis reported soon after regaining consciousness. "My sensors are…"

"There are shadows heading this way!" Helia shouted with alarm. "Lots of them." The others looked at her, somewhat confused. "I have the same power as Rise. I can sense them."

"I can sense them too." Yang added with concern. A massive wave of shadows approached from the direction of the entrance.

"Individually they're not very strong, but there are so many." Helia said. "We're in no condition to fight them now."

"They have blocked our avenue of retreat." Aigis reported. "Furthermore, I am low on ammunition."

"One way or another, we've got to fight." Blake said. The group took up positions facing the oncoming shadows. Things did not look good. Normally, even this large number of shadows would be of little concern given their individual weakness, but the group had been weakened considerably by their earlier fights.

"I'm picking up something else." Helia said. "There's so much power."

"A strong one?" Ruby asked.

"I don't think so." Helia replied.

Just before they reached the group, Izanagi scythed through the mass of shadows with its sword. A wave of fire cut through the shadows as Sumeo-Okami followed. Dissolving shadows flew through the air, Takeji Zaiten swatting them with its sword as it marched forward.

*Recommended Music: Reach Out to the Truth (Persona 4 Soundtrack)*

The advancing Personas were followed up by more and finally by their wielders. The Investigation Team was back! "Sorry we're late." Yu said casually as Izanagi continued to annihilate shadows.

"We thought you weren't coming." Ruby said.

"How could we stay away?" Chie said as Haraedo-no-Okami attacked relentlessly.

"We dropped everything as soon as we heard you needed help." Yosuke added as Takehaya Susano-o blew shadows away.

"But how did you even know?" Ruby asked. "How did you find us?"

"I'm a detective." Naoto said. "It's my job." Yamato Sumeragi generated a black circle under a group of shadows. The circle collapsed, taking dozens of shadows with it.

"Once we were here, you were easy to find." Rise reported. "All we had to do was head for the massive concentration of power. That and follow the shadows." The battle raged before them. "Hit them with more ice." Rise advised after summoning Kouzeon.

"It's Teddie's time to shine!" Teddie shouted excitedly as Kamui-Moshiri launched innumerable chunks of ice at the oncoming shadows. Their combined attacks were pushing the shadows back.

"It's turning in our favor, keep up the pressure!" Rise encouraged them. Team RWBY, Aigis and Labrys joined in to defeat the few remaining shadows that were not fleeing. Soon the area was clear of shadows.

"We're lucky you guys showed up when you did." Labrys said. "It was looking like we were in for a serious fight."

"Yes, that mass of shadows suddenly appeared just after we finished dealing with Helia's shadow." Aigis said. "I wonder where they came from. My sensors detected some shadows in this place, but they could not account for the total we faced."

"They came from the weird tower." Yosuke reported. "They came flooding out of there and into here just as we arrived. It made finding you guys a lot easier."

"Didn't that tower have a familiar look and feel to it?" Yukiko asked. "It was like what happened to our school when the town was surrounded by the Red Fog, but there was no fog out there."

"There's no fog in here either." Naoto said as she removed her glasses. "Strange, we've only encountered shadows in worlds filled with supernatural fog. This appears to be a new phenomenon."

"All the weird stuff only appears at midnight." Yang added. "It's not like that portal that was there all the time when we were in the forest. There are some similarities though."

"Like what?" Chie asked.

"People went missing." Ruby said. "In this case our friends Team JNPR. There was a rumor going around about all this stuff, and they went to check it out but never came back. We were investigating when Helia was pulled into this place."

"Did you find any clues?" Naoto asked.

"Well, the entrance to the Tower was locked and there was a poem on the door." Weiss said. "Aigis thinks it referred to Helia but we had to save her before we could investigate further. We could go back there to show you." Naoto nodded in agreement.

"It was right here." Weiss pointed. There was nothing there now.

Ruby walked up to the entrance and tugged on the door. This time it opened. "I guess rescuing Helia unlocked it." She mused.

"Or maybe defeating her shadow did it." Yang posited. "Let's see what's inside." The group entered the Tower. Aigis thought the place looked vaguely like the entrance of Tartarus, though it lacked the clock motif. A set of stairs led up to a large, glowing portal. Beside the stairs was a dark gray stone plaque engraved with gold lettering. Some of the text was glowing.

"It looks like more bad poetry." Blake said as she examined the plaque. "It might be important though."

The trials of

The Seven Seals,

To whom completes

The truth reveals.

A broken flower

Risen again,

Still haunted by

Their brutal end.

Though a leader

His weakness stark,

Inside he hides

A secret dark.

She'll break their legs

It's just the start,

For she conceals

A tortured heart.

Invincible

Or so it seems,

For one boy's love

Is what she dreams.

Without a voice

A quiet soul,

But silence may

Yet take its toll.

Forged in flame

And fratricide,

Her guilt a painful

Rising tide.

Her promise made

Was to defend,

But could not save

Him in the end.

"So if we complete the seven trials, we'll find out the truth?" Yosuke asked. "That doesn't sound too bad. I'd be there's a catch though."

"Well the one we saw earlier is glowing." Yang observed. "Maybe that means we completed that challenge."

"We just have to decipher the others." Naoto said. "Do you have any idea what they mean?"

"Well, some of them could refer to our missing friends." Ruby said. "Jaune's a good leader but a bad fighter, Nora's supported the breaking of legs in the past, Pyrrha is called the Invincible Girl, and Ren is a quiet person. I don't know about the rest of the stuff or the other two verses though. Some of it sounds like a sappy love letter. I could be totally wrong too. We just don't know enough."

"The final two verses may refer to my sister and me." Aigis said. "It is hard to be certain though."

"I'm sorry to get in the way of your investigating, but I'm really tired." Helia said. "Could we pick this up tomorrow?" They had already been through a lot that night, Helia in particular. It would be a good idea to rest and take some time to think it over.

"Okay, let's head back to the dorms and get some rest." Yang said.

"Uh, where are we going to go?" Kanji asked. "We're not students here so we don't have rooms of our own." That was a good point. The Investigation Team would require accommodations, but did not have the official sanction to be at Beacon like Aigis, Labrys and Helia. They headed back to the dorms. They would sort out the problem there.

"We've got two rooms between us." Helia said.

"Okay, girls in one room, guys in the other." Chie said.

"You can use our room." Helia said. She handed her scroll to Yu. "That should get you in." The guys headed off to their room.

"There are quite a few more girls than guys though." Naoto observed. "How many beds do you have?"

"There are four in each room." Weiss replied.

"There's 11 girls though." Chie said. They arrived at Team RWBY's room and Ruby opened the door for them. Zwei slept quietly in the corner. It looked a bit small for such a large group.

"Me and Aigis don't need beds." Labrys said. "We usually rest in a sitting position, so we can just use chairs."

"I'll sleep on the floor." Helia said. "I actually find it pretty comfortable."

"Two to a bed then, this could get interesting." Yang said suggestively. "I'll pair up with Bla…"

"I'm with Yang!" Ruby said excitedly. "It'll be just like when we were kids." Yang was disappointed, but could not bear to say no. They decided on the pairings and went to sleep, ready to renew their investigation the next day.

The next day, everyone met up for lunch in the dining hall. Team RWBY, together with the Investigation Team, Aigis, Labrys and Helia made for a strange sight. Still, for all anyone knew the newcomers were just visiting students. Earlier, they had had to quickly devise a way to disguise Aigis' and Labrys' robotic nature, but Beacon uniforms with high socks to cover their legs and gloves for their hands did the job pretty well. The apparatus on their heads was still visible for all to see, but no one seemed to notice. People around the school dressed so strangely, it was no surprise that they did not get a second glance.

"It's a shame you two have to attend classes." Ruby said to Aigis and Labrys. "Port's class can be pretty rough."

"For all his bluster and exaggeration, Professor Port's stories carry important tactical lessons." Aigis said. "Though they were somewhat boring I did gain potentially useful knowledge. Should we face Grimm again, I will be better prepared."

"I guess that's one way to look at it." Yang said. She turned to the Investigation Team. "So, the food here isn't free, how did you pay for it?"

"Margaret gave me money before we came." Yu replied. "I think she gave us too much though."

"How much?" Blake asked.

"120 million Lien." Yu answered. Jaws dropped. "We spent 40 million chartering a ride here last night. Everything here is so inexpensive though."

"You guys are breaking the economy." Helia complained. "When I go back home everyone in that village is going to be living in luxury because of you."

"That's even a lot of money for me." Weiss said. "Why did she give so much?"

"I do not think residents of the Velvet Room have any understanding of the value of currency." Aigis replied. "Even on earth they seem incapable of understanding it."

*Recommended Music: Deduction (Track 14 of Disc 1, Persona 4 Soundtrack)*

"I think we should get down to business." Naoto said. She came from a wealthy family but discussions about money always made her uneasy. Perhaps it was her investigations of white collar crimes. "You said the changes to the campus occur at midnight, but you don't know why or how. We asked around and other students dismissed the rumors, some stating that they had been out at that time and seen nothing unusual. Therefore, I think it's safe to assume that the phenomenon only affects certain individuals, perhaps only those capable of wielding a Persona."

"No one on Team JNPR can wield a Persona though." Blake observed.

"But neither could Helia before you defeated her shadow." Naoto countered. "It may only be the potential that matters."

"What about those stupid poems?" Weiss asked.

"They said there are challenges to overcome to get to the truth, so let's just do it." Kanji said confidently. "It sounds like you guys had them pretty figured out, so it shouldn't be too hard."

"Yes, but we do not know what the result of completing the challenges will be." Aigis warned. "It implies that the truth will be revealed, but that may be a deception. It could trigger something terrible. In a previous incident I was involved in, we destroyed specific shadows because we were told it would remove all shadows from the world, but we had been lied to. In actual fact it nearly brought about the end of the world."

"There's too much we don't know." Rise admitted. "We don't even know if the Tower is important or just where the shadows live. Maybe the other places like where you fought Helia's shadow are the key."

"We should focus on saving Team JNPR." Ruby said. "Whatever else is going on, they're in immediate danger."

"We'll get started on it tonight." Yang agreed.