Persona 4 FYL

Standing before the large, plasma-screen television, Souji hesitated.

He knew he should call the others and tell them where he was going. He knew he should let them know what was going on. But what was happening on the other side? He didn't want to expose them to dangers that he didn't even know about, and it was difficult for him to piece together possible ideas with that annoying Junes jingle playing in his ears.

Reconnaissance is the most important mission right now, said Souji to himself. If I can gather enough information beforehand, we can investigate as a group without worrying too much about unexpected surprises.

It seemed sound enough, yet his intuition was feeding him a nagging suspicion that he was missing something important.

I can't dwell on "what if"s. It's now or never.

The electronics department was empty. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and clutching the coat-concealed blade close to him, Souji entered the television once again.

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Souji sped through the familiar black and white rectangular tunnel, his senses dazzled by the contrast. He emerged into the beautiful television world, fully expecting the warm, soothing air and the vibrant colors that exist in the human heart.

He did not expect himself to fall through the air and land in the watery pond below.

The liquid surged around him, cold against his skin. The pond not being very deep, Souji easily swam back to the surface and gulped the sweet air back into his lungs, quickly moving to the bank and rising out of the water. He removed the jacket from around his sword, wringing out the excess pond water and shaking it out. The sun, shining above him, seemed to understand his need to dry off quickly, and he felt his own clothes begin to dry under the mystical golden orb's radiance.

Definitely not our world, said Souji, taking a look around with interest, trying to spy something out of the ordinary (whatever that might be in such a unique landscape). Nothing seems wrong, though I know better than to assume anything in this place. The brilliant blue sky, the fluffy white clouds, the gentle spring breeze, the plethora of multi-colored flowers, the rolling green hills, the tall majestic trees... Nothing at all seemed wrong with the place.

And yet... his intuition continued to prod at him, as though the truth were at the tip of his reason, waiting to be grasped.

"You sense it too, yes?"

Souji turned to his right and saw Hotei sitting right beside him, his blue suit immaculate and unblemished, his white hair and beard as pure as snow, his grey eyes twinkling behind his circular glasses.

"How did you get here?" Souji asked, and Hotei gave a hearty chuckle.

"I've been waiting for you, dear boy. Though I admit, I expected more of you to come. You didn't just show up by yourself, did you?"

Souji had the wisdom to look ashamed of himself, but Hotei smiled kindly all the same. "I understand why you didn't send for them just yet... and perhaps it might be best for you to obtain a clearer idea of what you're up against. However, you will require your friends for this journey, my boy, and you will not obtain success without their assistance."

Souji nodded. "There doesn't seem to be anything that stands out, though."

"Nothing blatantly obvious, no," said Hotei, nodding and stroking his white beard thoughtfully. "But you must remember that sometimes what we seek is just over the hill. We only can't see it because of what blocks our vision."

"...A metaphor, sir? I'm sorry, but I've had enough of those to last a lifetime." Souji smiled, but Hotei laughed again.

"Metaphoric, yes. But perhaps you should take me literally, hmm?" The old man winked, pointing up the green hill rising behind them. "You may behold far more than you expect."

"Alright, then," said Souji, rising to his feet. "I guess you won't be here when I come back, right?"

"Probably not," smiled Hotei, his eyes twinkling again. "But that doesn't mean I won't be far behind you."

Pondering the old man's words to himself, Souji trudged up the grassy hill, hefting the sword up and letting the flat of the blade rest on his shoulder. It only took a few moments to reach the top, and Souji peered out at the vast landscape, far more brilliant than the small patch he had beheld upon arrival. And within a matter of seconds, he found the problem.

Miles and miles away, yet close enough to be noticed from a distance, a black mass marred the beauty of the land. Easily discernable against the palette of color, the shape of the dark blemish was indiscernable. Yet it was visibly affecting the world, the land near the unsightly cataract seeming to become barren, the sky fading from the crisp blue to a pale off-white, and on into a dull, lifeless gray.

Souji couldn't supress a shudder. Okay... maybe this IS worse than five years ago.

Wondering what to do next now that he had seen the odd change in the world, Souji's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice calling to him from down the hill.

"Sensei?! Is that really you, Sensei?!"

Souji smiled broadly as he saw his old friend Teddie bounding up the hill toward him, still dressed in his colorful, almost absurd, bear suit. Rushing down to meet him halfway, Souji embraced his old friend, and it was returned with earnest.

"How did you know I was gonna try to find you, Sensei?" asked Teddie, his large eyes beaming at him with a mystified expression. "I swear, you always did know everything."

"Actually..." began Souji, flushing a little at the bear's praises, "...I did hear about something going on, but I was looking for you so I could know more about it. Once I'm better informed, I'll go and bring the others here, too."

"Really?" Teddie's eyes shimmered with pure happiness at the idea of his old friends coming to see him again. "I'd really love that, Sensei! But this isn't the time for a picnic." The bear became more serious, looking a little sad. "I don't know every detail about this, but I know enough to see how beary bad this will get if it isn't stopped."

"Start from the beginning, then," said Souji, releasing his embrace and smiling down at Teddie. "And tell me everything you ca-"

A loud roar sounded from the distance, echoing across the landscape. Souji looked out toward the black spot, the source of the call, and Teddie cringed reflexively behind him.

"Oh, no! We're too late! They know you're here!" Teddie cried, shivering in fear.

"They? You don't mean-" Souji began, his heart skipping a beat. Teddie nodded, his distress confirming Souji's fear.

The Shadows were coming.

"We need to go back," said Souji, taking Teddie by his blue-furred paw. "Come on!"

"No, Sensei! They've got us surrounded!" wailed Teddie. "I can smell them all around us!"

Cursing under his breath, Souji tightened his grip on his sword. "Teddie, can you still fight? I'll need your help if we're going to-"

He stopped speaking, alarmed to see Teddie actually shaking his head, his large eyes pooling with tears.

"I... I can't, Sensei... I forgot how... and... and my Persona won't come!"

The two of them were surrounded by shapeless black forms, coming at them from land and air like a flood of night. They reached out toward them with their clawed hands, blood-red eyes glowing with malice from within the black depths of their being. There had be at least fifty of them, if not more.

I can't fight all of these on my own! thought Souji, summoning forth the tarot card from the depths of inner strength. Not even with Izanagi-no-Okami... I'll still be overwhelmed.

As he shattered the card and brought forth the Persona from within himself, Teddie cringed beside his leg. And without warning, he let out a shrill yell that even outperformed the roar of the Shadows' approach.

"Someone! Anyone! PLEASE HELP US!!"

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Yosuke Hanamura awoke with a start.

He sat still for a moment, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and rubbing them with his hands. Guh.. what woke me up? It sounded like... He shook his head, laughing to himself. Nah, impossible. I was probably dreaming about him, that's all.

The more Yosuke thought about it, the more absurd the idea became to him. Teddie was back in his own world by choice, and there had been no word from him in five years. All was well in Inaba these days... unless you counted the unnatural cold that had infected the autumn weather this year. But other than that...

Geez, what time is it...? He looked around for his alarm clock, suddenly irritated. I gotta work tomorrow, too... Sheesh.. His gaze fell upon the Junes-brand alarm clock on his desk, and he slowly allowed the time to register inside his brain:

11:58 PM

The irritated feeling increased within Yosuke. Dammit.. not even two hours... Tomorrow's really gonna suck.. and now it's raining, too. Of all the rotten luck...

The sound of falling rain pattered against the windows and roof of Yosuke's bedroom, and he rose to look out into the damp Inaba night. He found himself thinking of memories of what had occurred five years ago, the only real source of comfort he had these days: the day he met Souji, who had helped him out of the trash can when he crashed his bike for what had to have been the sixth time that April; when he, Souji and Chie had entered the television world, the act that had started off their epic adventure...

But it all seems so... surreal, almost, thought Yosuke, running his hand through his orange hair. Even the Midnight Channel seems like a dream now.

"Someone! Anyone! PLEASE HELP US!!"

Yosuke turned on the spot so quickly that he almost shattered a nearby lamp. He was looking straight at his miniature TV, the one that he saw the Midnight Channel pass before his eyes so often before. He saw an aerial shot of what was clearly a circle of Shadows... they were surrounding two people. One was obviously Teddie, judging from the red suit and blue fur. The other, wielding a sword and wearing very familiar clothes, was--

...HOLY CRAP!!

Without thinking, he grabbed his cellphone and called Chie from her number in his address book. Cursing vehemently to himself, he ripped open his closet door and began rummaging inside the messy enclosure.

"C'mon, c'mon! Pick up, Chie! Pick up!!"

He found what he was looking for after a moment of searching: his pair of sharp, deadly Malakh blades. Almost immediately, the phone clicked as a connection was established.

"Yosuke?! Thank GOD, I was just about to call you!" Chie sounded as frantic as Yosuke felt, her voice tremulous and high-pitched like it always became when she was under pressure. "Souji-kun was just on the... on the Midnight Channel!!"

"You saw it too?!" asked Yosuke, pulling on a pair of black slacks over his pajamas.

"Yeah! I actually thought it was a prank, so I called his cellphone to make sure. He didn't answer, so I tried calling Dojima-senpai."

"And?!" said Yosuke, his apprehension rising.

"And... and... he said Souji-kun didn't come home tonight! He thought he was with one of us, or still looking around the city!"

"Dammit... Okay, we need to calm down. Start calling up everyone and have them all meet us outside Junes. Tell them to make sure they come prepared to fight!" Yosuke added, placing his headphones securely around his neck. "We don't know what's going on, but if the Midnight Channel is any indication, then Souji's in deep trouble right now!"

Yosuke heard Chie take a deep breath on the other end. "G-Got it. I already called Yukiko, and she's contacting Rise. I'll call Naoto-kun if you try to get ahold of Kanji-kun!"

"Sounds good, but we need to hurry. If we don't, then Souji might-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Chie screamed almost hysterically. "I don't even wanna THINK about that!"

"Gah, sorry. Just.. hurry, then, alright?!"

"Okay, I will! See you soon!"

Hanging up the phone, Yosuke began searching his address book for Kanji's number, still cursing to himself. I'm gonna kill him if those Shadows don't. Still.. if it works out, this could be fun. It's been a while since we could relive the old days...

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The motorcycle squealed as Yosuke hit the brakes, stopping in his personal parking space in the Junes lot. Leaping from his seat as he locked the vehicle in place, he ran as fast as he could into the store, his fingers jamming at the elevator button as soon as he could get his hand on it. "Son of a... Never around when you need-"

"Yosuke!"

He turned and sighed in visible relief as Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, and Naoto all charged up behind him, their expressions frantic. "Did you all get here at once?"

"Carpooled," gasped Chie, her hand to her chest as she breathed heavily. "Naoto's a hell of a driver."

"Where IS he?!" Naoto yelled, her face contorted in fear. Everyone was taken aback at this visible loss of control. "What happened?! How did he-"

"He's in the TV world!" said Yosuke, continuing to jam at the elevator button in annoyance. "We saw him on the Midnight Channel."

"That's weird, though," said Yukiko, looking worried as she unfurled her fan, the Boundless Sea. "Why would the Midnight Channel come on NOW, of all times? And why did it only rain for five minutes?"

"Good questions." Kanji hefted his enchanted Perune Plate under his right arm, his face creased in grim determination. "But we can't worry about that right now. We gotta save senpai before those Shadows massacre him and Teddie."

"But.. I thought the Midnight Channel worked differently than that..." said Rise with a pained glance at Naoto, who was visibly shaking as she loaded her Black Hole revolver. "It's not supposed to be a... a window into the TV world or anything, right?"

"Yeah, well, the Midnight Channel isn't even supposed to be ON now, is it?" said Yosuke as the elevator dinged, the doors opening wide to allow them entry. "Finally! Everyone get inside, quick!"

The group bustled into the compartment, and the door closed behind them. As they rose up toward the electronics department, Rise put a consoling hand on Naoto's shoulder. "He'll be alright... We'll make it. I know we will."

Naoto put a trembling hand on Rise's, her other hand pulling the visor of her hat down over her eyes.

She wouldn't let them see her cry.

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"There's too many of them!"

Teddie, in an effort to help Souji hold the Shadows at bay, had finally remembered his Seirega claw and began mauling at anything that got too close. He had succeeded in remembering his fighting strength and determination from before, but he was still worried about not being able to summon his "Bear-sona". What's wrong with me? Sensei's summoning his just fine! ...I wonder if he's always been able to summon it after all this time...

Izanagi-no-Okami had thinned the ranks of the Shadow flood with amazing skill, his blade slicing a wide path through the creatures and providing some temporary relief. But for every Shadow that fell, two more seemed to take their place. Wave after wave of Shadows had come, and more continued to pour forth from all directions. There seemed to be no end to the attack.

And then Izanagi-no-Okami vanished, and Souji collapsed to one knee. His spiritual power had been depleted, and he was unable to rely on his Persona any longer.

A Shadow, large and cat-like, bounded toward Souji with a roar. Souji raised his sword, preparing to deflect the attack, but he was too weak to defend himself, worn down by the multitude of waved attacks. He was knocked backwards by the Shadow's claws, flying though the air and landing hard on his back, his sword landing blade-first into the green grass that was splattered with the black material the Shadows were made of.

"Sensei!" cried Teddie, rushing forward to help, but the Shadow was too quick for him. It lunged at the prone Souji, who looked up and saw his doom approach. He rolled along the grass, trying to find his sword, but his way was blocked by a large cat's paw. He stared into the cold, red eyes of the shadow, who lifted its claw in preparation to strike.

Souji squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the worst.

And a gunshot echoed through the air.

Opening his eyes, Souji blinked at the smoking bullet hole in the Shadow's forehead. It stumbled backwards, shaking its head in an attempt to compose itself, and Souji pushed himself backwards away from it. Turning around, his eyes widened in shock and excitement as he saw Naoto standing on top of the hill, her gun aimed at the Shadow that had nearly ended his life. Her eyes reflected a cold, calculating glare of rage that Souji had only seen once before, long ago, in the dark hospital room when they had all believed that Taro Namatame had been responsible for the death of his cousin, Nanako.

Naoto's voice was tense and supressed, shivering from her throat as though she was trying not to scream the words out.

"You... will not... touch him... again..."

The Shadow roared in response, but Naoto shot five more bullets in rapid succession a moment later, turning the Shadow's catlike face into a mangled mess. It crumpled to the ground and melted away as Souji's other friends emerged from behind the hill and ran down toward him. Blinking back tears, Souji stood up and retrieved his sword, slicing through the oncoming Shadows with renewed vigor. Yosuke howled in delight as he sank his daggers into two Shadows at once. Chie bounded through a mass of huddled enemies and threw a roundhouse kick that sent them all flying. Yukiko threw her fan with such force that an entire line of Shadows were wiped out. Kanji roared in rage as he slammed a Shadow repeatedly with his plate, splattering it into a pool of shapeless black muck. Rise provided effective verbal support as the assault weakened the integrity of the Shadow's front line ("Hit it again, Chie! Remember, don't think! Feel!"), and Naoto continued to fire her revolver pitilessly into any Shadow too foolish to get within her sights. The group of friends, after a few more minutes of intense battling, finally caused the Shadows to retreat, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared and leaving behind an unnatural stillness in their wake.

Souji collapsed onto the grass, unable to remain standing any longer. He needed rest, but he needed to tell his friends exactly what-

His thoughts were interrupted by a swift punch to his exposed stomach. Grimacing so violently that he sat up, he stared up in astonishment at Yosuke, who looked absolutely livid.

"What the HELL did you think you were DOING, dammit?!" Yosuke bellowed, throwing his knives to the ground. "You should have CALLED us first! You should have TOLD us you were coming here!!"

"Yeah!" agreed Chie indignantly. "What about our promise, huh? 'We'll never go into the TV world on our own! We'll always call the group and go in together because it's too dangerous to come by ourselves!' Remember?!"

Souji looked crestfallen. He did remember making that promise now... "I'm sorry... I forgot."

"Sorry?"

Souji's stomach lurched. Naoto had approached him, and her face was contorted in sheer fury, her cheeks an angry shade of crimson, her eyes shrouded by the shadow of her visor.

"You're sorry? Very well, then. That makes ammends for everything we went through, doesn't it?" Her voice was sharp with sarcasm, every word aimed to cause harm, and Souji winced as though they were daggers. "You knew you were supposed to call us. You knew you weren't supposed to enter alone. And if it hadn't been for the timely intervention of the Midnight Channel, something that might not have succeeded in warning us in the first place, you very well could have... could.... have..."

Naoto stopped, her voice cracking with emotion. Souji's heart was rent asunder as his eyes found Naoto's and beheld them shining with supressed tears, her teeth gritted in an effort to maintain her declining composure... and yet there was no coldness in her gaze any longer. Only love.. and worry... and relief...

"You're... so stupid..."

She fell on top of Souji, clinging to him tightly, hiding her tears in his shirt. He felt her shuddering as she held in her sobs, and as she spoke, her voice took on a girlish tone that he had also heard only once before... in his own bedroom...

"Never worry us.. worry ME... like that again... Do you understand...?"

Souji embraced Naoto tightly, pressing her as close to him as he could, not wanting to let her go.

"I promise..."

Sniffling a little, Naoto looked up at him and nodded, smiling gently. Other than the remnants of the flush in her cheeks and the redness of her eyes from holding back her tears, she appeared to have regained her usual demeanor. She looked around at the gathered group in curiosity. "Would anyone else care to berate our fearless leader before we proceed to the purpose of our gathering?"

"Heh.. no way," said Kanji, unable to supress a smile. "I think you expressed all our worry and then some."

"Yeah, really." Yukiko sniffled, rubbing her own red eyes. Apparently she had been crying, as well.

"Really," agreed Rise, hiccuping a bit. "You should be glad we DID see the Midnight Channel."

"Which brings us to tonight's big question," said Yosuke, sitting down at Souji's left as Naoto rolled to lay down at her lover's right. "Why the hell did you even COME here?"

Souji took a moment to explain everything that had happened up to that point, including the appearance of Izanami. He was just about to mention Hotei when Chie cut across him.

"You know, you guys, I REALLY think we should go back to our world now." Her voice sounded tense, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Huh? Wait, what's up?" asked Yosuke in concern, but he too suddenly seemed uncomfortable. Everyone else, apart from Souji and Teddie, seemed to mirror them. "Y-yeah... I think we should.. regroup..."

"G-good idea," stammered Yukiko, who started climbing back up the hill.

Souji stood up and helped Naoto to her feet as everyone followed Yukiko. The young detective punched him gently on the arm, looking half-exasperated, half-bemused. "I'm still angry, you know."

"Maybe I can make it up to you?" said Souji, gently touching Naoto's cheek, which blushed again. "I know how much you enjoy my California Rolls."

"Mmm... That could help. Possibly." She kissed him softly on the cheek, and stifled a laugh when Souji blushed.

"Uhhh... Souji-kun? You might wanna come see this..." Rise called from the top of the hill.

Naoto looked up at Rise in slight annoyance. "We're a little busy at the moment!" she yelled.

"Dude, seriously! This thing's freakin' me out!" Yosuke cried out, sounding serious.

Sighing in unison, Souji and Naoto climbed up the hill to its peak. They stopped abruptly at the sight before them, gazing down at the center of the lake in confusion.

Floating a few feet above the water's surface was a black-cloaked humanoid figure. Its body was entirely shrouded in the folds of cloth that seemed to move about it as though it was entirely immersed in a tank of water. Yet the most notable feature was the being's head, also entirely shrouded in black. It possessed no face, and seemed to more closely resemble a mannequin than an actual human being. It did not move, but simply floated in place above the lake as though guarding it.

"What... is that...?" asked Kanji, bewildered. "It.. doesn't look like any Shadow I've ever seen before."

"That's because it's not a Shadow."

Everyone turned around to see Teddie walk up behind them. "Oh, now you notice me, huh?"

"S...sorry, Teddie," said Rise, hugging the bear tightly and causing him to purr.

"Gah! Wait, this is important! Don't distract me!" said Teddie quickly. "....Yet. Um, anyway, this isn't a Shadow. Actually, I dunno what it is. It came out of the Rift a while back, when it first opened."

"The what?" asked Yukiko, looking confused. "Rift?

"A rift," said Naoto, "is defined as an opening created from something splitting apart, like a fissure." She turned back and gazed at the blackness on the opposite horizon. "So.. that's a rift?"

"THE Rift," corrected Teddie. "That's the only one there is. It leads somewhere, but I've been too scared to take a closer look."

"So what do we do about the faceless freak down there?" asked Chie. "Do we smack it into next Tuesday, or-"

The creature lifted its nonexistent gaze toward the group, causing everyone to step back in alarm.

"AAHH! I-I was only kidding!" stuttered Chie, laughing nervously.

"Ugh! NOW you've done it!" Yosuke groaned as the being's cloak began to billow around it more rapidly, as though affected by an unseen wind. It seemed to speak, but its voice was like a rasping whisper, an incoherent, foreign tongue that grated on the ears like fingernails against a chalkboard.

"Can... can any of you understand it?" asked Rise, shivering slightly. "Because I sure can't."

"...I can," said Teddie, and his small ears twitched as the words registered within them. "It.. it says..." He suddenly gasped and turned to Souji with a look of sheer terror in his eyes! "We gotta run! Now!"

"W-what do you mean?" asked Naoto, stunned by Teddie's fear. "What did it-"

"There's no time!" Teddie yelled, grabbing Souji's arm and starting to pull him away from the lake and back down the hill.

"Whoa, wait a second!" said Yosuke in alarm. "We came in through HERE!"

"I... think it knows that," Yukiko whispered.

The cloaked creature rose into the air at Yosuke's exclamation, its cloak flowing around it as it flew without the aid of wing or machine. It began to circle the lake, slowly at first, but it soon began to pick up speed. The leaves on the nearby trees rustled with the increasing motion of the air, and the grass beneath their feet swayed back and forth as the being accelerated and transformed into a blur of blackness.

"There's no time!" cried Teddie, stomping his booted feet in frustration. "We need to go NOW!"

"But if we don't leave from here-" shot back Chie, but Teddie yelled back louder as the wind began to howl around them.

"If we stay here, then NO ONE will go back! Just COME ON!"

The black blur suddenly descended headlong into the lake, but there was no splash, no ripple in the water. The howling wind ceased, and all was eerily still.

And the ground shuddered, a loud crack echoing around them.

"RUN!" yelled Souji at the top of his voice. No one dared argue further as the earth beneath their feet began to heave and tremble, and the group ran as fast as their legs could carry them, down the hill and into the valley. But the ground continued to quake, and a geyser of jet-black mist surged in front of them with such force that everyone slammed into each other in an effort to keep from running headlong into it.

"HOLY CRAP!" cried Chie out of habit as Yukiko pulled her to the left with the rest of the group. Looking backward, Souji saw that more black mist was spouting out of the trembling ground, which heaved and fell as though there was nothing to support it any longer. He continued running until the tremors had ceased and the geysers had vanished, and everyone collapsed onto the now complacent ground, exhausted.

"This.. couldn't POSSIBLY get any-" began Yosuke, but all four girls started yelling at him, and he didn't finish verbalizing his thought.

Souji peered behind him again. The hill was gone. The lake that should have existed behind it was gone. There was only a pit in it's place, one that seemed to belch forth a cold, cruel wind. Walking forward cautiously, Souji moved to the edge of the newly formed sinkhole and peered down.

He gulped heavily as he saw nothing within its expanse.

There was no bottom. No walls. After the edge, there was only complete and total emptiness.

"What... does this mean?"

Naoto gazed transfixedly into the void, slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

"It means we won't be leaving anytime soon," muttered Kanji. "Damn, I knew we should have brought more supplies."

The chill wind then picked up speed from within the pit, and Souji was forced to cover his face as the black-cloaked menace soared out from the endless depths and flew off in the direction of the Rift.

"...Obviously, that.. thing.. is the cause of this entire fiasco," said Naoto, her hand on her hat to keep it from flying off.

"We still need as much of an explanation as we can possibly get, though," said Souji, and he walked over to Teddie and put a gentle hand on his blue-furred head, scratching him behind the ear. "Would you mind telling us what you can? Anything would be helpful."

"Mrrrr..." purred Teddie, smiling up at Souji and nodding firmly. "Sure thing, Sensei. I dunno how much it'll help, but I'll tell you all that I can. I only hope it'll be enough."

"So do we," said Yosuke, pulling his jacket around himself to protect him from the cold winds of the nearby pit. "Or this is gonna be one long investigation..."