Class was interrupted for you that day when you were personally called out to break up a little 'revenge match' between some of Kikuko's supporters and a few students who'd gathered to 'defend' you, with you even recognising some of each side as being from the Tea Ceremony Cub and the Cricket Team respectively, though it seemed like Takako had no knowledge of this (and Kikuko no care for this).

After that little incident, you thought things could go back to normal, but then a good chunk of Class 2-C started whispering that Suzako, being the Class's Vice-Rep, by technicality qualified her as Jack of Fools, regardless of your statements that you had no desire to choose a Jack for the time being.

You having to publicly tell your own class, "Hey, knock it off, if I anoint anyone as a jack or whatever, you'll hear it from me," you then sat down again... only for Suzako to then stare right at you.

"So um I guess this means I'm not in the running, then?" she mumbled by you.

"What? No, I wasn't trying to say that at all," you tried to explain to her, then saying, "Like, Melissa forcing you to become her Jack has, well, kinda put me off the idea in regards to anyone, not just you. But hey, you remember your old idea of forming a counter-clique to the Aces or something?"

"Yeah, um, think I got clearly told that wasn't gonna work out," Suzako sighed.

Lifting her head, you tried to get through to her with, "No, not at all, I've always liked that idea. And with Melissa not basically blackmailing you anymore, you could have a real shot at it," you then smiled.

"Oh, okay! Hey, it's nice to hear that from you, Honoka, but er... where am I gonna get the funds to do that? I mean, those all dried up when Melissa, well, y'know," she then told you.

Oh yeah, that. Back to square one I guess, you could only think.

Even that conversation though was all sunshine compared to what came next. It started with you having to debunk to Colette any rumours about her getting made your Jack that'd been spreading around school. Fortunately she just laughed and said, "No need to fret, I can tell blatantly false gossip when I hear it, I know full well you have no desire to drag me into that".

As you were talking though, your phone started ringing, with you puzzled to see that the call was from your parents, who usually were too busy to call at this time. Finding somewhere secluded to take the call, you heard your father's voice on the other end.

"Hey, Honoka, honey," he feebly began, hesitantly saying, "So, er, how're things?"

"Er, just about fine, I guess. W-what about you, what's the call for?" you pressed him.

"...'Spose I should just say it. I lost my job today," he told you.

You almost dropped your phone from your hand after hearing that, before you then told your father in a split-second before he had any chance to react, "Oh no, oh God. I-I'll be right over, hold on!"

As you were about to race out, Colette had to stop you and ask, "Wait, hold on! I-is it private, what happened?"

Checking that nobody was in earshot first, you then told Colette, "Ugh, my dad lost his job. Since school's over, I was gonna head right home to see how he and Mum were doing. Er, maybe you could come with me though, maybe telling them about our relationship would help make things seem brighter?"

Colette smiled at first, but had to say, "Well, I'm not sure how much I could be of help in matters like... these, but I could certainly accompany you if it makes you feel better".

Heading all the way out to your parents' line train carriage, your Mum and Dad both saw you from the door. While you all waved to each other at first, an awkward silence then followed as the situation unfolded.
"So, ah, you okay, Dad?" you awkwardly began with.

Your Dad had to sigh, before telling you, "Probably as fine as I can be, in a situation like this. I, um, don't want to exactly burden you with the details of my firing, there was well, a whole ton of stuff going on at work, I'll just say that for now. I'm mainly just concerned who, if anyone, would hire me next. Might be stuck on just the dole for a while".

"Well, usually I'd try to give advice like, 'Look on the bright side', say by telling Yozou how much free time he now has... but I feel he's been working so hard and long that, well, it's like a mental blockade has been put up between him and what he used to do for fun" your mother had to admit.

Your father, who seemed to just want a change of subject, took notice of Colette and said, "Oh, why hello, I remember you being Honoka's friend, yes, Head of the Occult Club, am I right? Were you also concerned?"

"Indeed, whatever troubles Honoka troubles me," Colette said clearly, before blushing and looking at you, "Er, so, did you wish to break it to them, or should I?"

"No, I can handle it," you reassured her, before you breathed in and out then told your parents, "Mum, Dad, maybe some lighter news will make things feel better... Colette and I are now dating! She's a published author and all too," Though you left out her book's exact sales figures.

Colette nodded and grinned, producing a convenient copy of her book Sisters of the Blood Moon.

Your mother's eyes widened as she clasped her hands, "Why Honoka, that's wonderful to hear! Oh, you really are coming up in the world, aren't you? And, well, I must be honest, I didn't quite think partner material when I first met Colette, but you two look quite happy together so that should be all that matters," she said.

Your father's reaction was more restrained, but with him nodding and smiling, he was certainly approving. "I hope this doesn't make me seem like a fun-wrecker, but well, I do have to be worried that being a writer isn't exactly stable as a job. But eh, what do know? So far you seem to be making it work".

Not quite dinner yet, your parents did invite you two in for a little afternoon tea, er, of yams and taro, though your Mum's home-made taro rolls turned out to be surprisingly decent. Then again, maybe you'd just long gotten used to her cooking.

It was there you finally told your parents the other big news, "Yeah, so I'm a full-fledged All-Ace now, got my own private room at school and everything".

Your dad had to chuckle, but then said, "I do notice you seem oddly... hesitant about telling us that. I have to imagine a girl in your situation would be proud, but well, perhaps the position's not all it's cracked up to be".

You can say that again, you thought, Colette likely thinking that in unison. "Yeah, well, you've met the other Aces yourselves, so you can judge from them. I've also had to put up with all new bullshit upon becoming Ace, threats, fandom rivalries, stuff like that," you went over.

"Oh Honoka, wouldn't you be frightened for your life?" you mother then asked, "All those stories about students dying, especially the Aces. Every time I heard the news again, I could only think of transferring you to another school, but well, there aren't that many other options around..."

"I get your concern. But like, I dunno, despite all the harassment, all the deaths... I don't exactly wanna leave Hanataba. Like, almost all of my friends are there," you said, looking at Colette. On a less positive note, you added, "Besides, if anyone really wants to kill me, I doubt simply transferring will put them off. But like, we've got Tokyo lawyers and others on the case now, I'm sure I'll be... fine".

"Well, let's just hope," your father had to say, trying to smile again, "With how bad my luck's just gotten, I doubt yours could get any worse".

- The Star has Journeyed to Rank 5! -

"On a lighter note, this was indeed a delightful meal," Colette stood up, smiled, and curtseyed, "If a little, ahem, of an acquired taste".

"Ah, that's because I replaced the pepper in the recipe with turmeric!" your mother seemed quite pleased with herself, even if nobody else did.


* * *

"Okay, told you all I'd made some real progress," you beamed at the rest of Dead Hand as you all gathered in No One's Land, "I've found out Rin's killer, hell they personally confessed to me!"

"Ah, that's er, certainly some progress," Makoto tried to seem positive, though she was obviously cautious, "And they'd be?"

"It's Kikuko," you told the three, "She let it out that she slew her in a fit of rage, and Azuma was responsible for covering it up".

"And... the only proof you have is her word?" Sae had to ask, "Or rather, your word of her word".

"Sis, do you have to be like this?" Makoto asked.

Sae shrugged, "Just doing my job. While my own instincts make me distrust the Maeda girl, I still don't want to risk convicting someone innocent," she made clear.

"If we wanna be sure, all we have to do is check her Empire," you told them, "Like, it's her heart of hearts, so we're bound to find something there, and definitely in her Arena".

"Er, not exactly sure if objects, that aren't humans or anything, can travel back from a cognitive reality to our one?" Rise questioned.

"Oh, I can confirm they can," Makoto said, "Although, they don't exactly tend to stay in the same form back in our reality. But yeah, we should find something in her Empire.
That said..." she then had to say, "You do seem awfully insistent on getting to Kikuko's Arena, Mirror. This-this wouldn't happen to be due to another Duel, would it?"

You had to sigh, "Yeah, Kikuko went all berserk and challenged me last Friday. But if we can scrounge up real evidence of her having killed Rin, then we won't have to worry about the Duel at all. Like, Empires represent the impact you have on other people, so everyone finding out Kikuko killed Rin's gonna completely shatter that, right?" you tried to lighten up.

"She is Maeda Iemitsu's heiress though, convicting her would be no simple task," Sae had to bring up.

"Actually, um, I don't think that's gonna be a problem," you then said, "From everything I know about Iemitsu, it seems like he'd happily ditch his own daughter if given the chance to. She's not even the Heir to his zaibatsu, despite her being the eldest. Convicting Azuma though, if he's complicit in this, yeah, that's gonna be tricky".

"Sheesh, like I don't know anything about shipping companies, but her Dad sounds horrible!" Rise blurted out.

"Oh indeed he is, the stuff I've heard about Maeda Iemitsu is nightmarish," Sae chimed in.

"Having a good father who died young, or a cruel father who's still around. It's... not really a dichotomy I wanna think about," Makoto muttered.

<<BGM: Sengoku Basara 3 - Kanegasaki Dream Battle>>


Descending to the stormy shores that bordered Kikuko's Empire, no apparent path across due to all the pagodas floating around, you had to ask, "Er, can you make out any routes, Rise? Makoto?"

"Not really," said Makoto, before she went, "Although, I do have an idea. Once a floating pagoda does come by, why don't we try commandeering one of them, move them around like a ship?"

"Er, can't exactly spot any steering wheels on them," Rise said, before she shrugged, "Still, don't knock it till you try it, I guess".

The four of you soon getting aboard a nearby pagoda, you took one step forward and almost feel through, as the floorboards below suddenly sprang down like a trapdoor. Stumbling back you were caught by Makoto, but Rise had already taken a step forward... yet the floor beneath her stayed right where it was.

Sae cautiously put a foot forward herself, to find that the floor stayed unchanged for her too. Yet when you slowly tried to move forward again, the floor split open a second time, though at least you knew to instantly move back.

"I get what's going on here," you muttered, "That day Kikuko told me she was the murderer, well, he was in such a rage that it broke any connection with her I had. Her whole Empire's turned against me, well, more than it already had".

"Hey, it's okay. We're veterans at this, you just get to safety while we take on her Empire," a smiling Rise offered.

"I'm not," Sae had to say.

"No, like, at the same time, Kikuko barely knows you. That means without me, her Empire will only let you so far in before you get hit by a Barrier," you told them.

"All you have to do is not touch the floor, right?" Makoto asked, before summoning Santabarbara, "Here, climb on, I can have my Persona carry you through".

[ ] Take Makoto's offer and ride on her Persona, even if it means her SP will constantly drain point by point.
[x] You'll handle this, fly on Aradia instead.
[ ] Good thing you've still got Arachne.
[ ] Could you ride using Ishtar's lions?
[ ] Having Ahriman as your Persona informs you there's tales of ancient kings lassoing and riding him.
[ ] Just keep using Wind, Nuclear, and Ice spells to keep getting you forward, though you'll have little SP for anything else.
[ ] Maybe you should just stick to the beach and do Analysis stuff for everyone else?
[ ] Write-in.
"Thanks, but I can call up my own flight. Don't want to put you through gradually losing your cognition for me" you smiled and nodded at Makoto, before summoning Aradia.

Balancing yourself on Aradia's crescent moon, her making it look a lot easier than it was, you gradually levitated up to the top of this pagoda. Seeing no reason to split the party, Rise, Makoto, and Sae began climbing up the pagoda balconies after you, Makoto being by far the most adept at doing so, though Rise's dancing left her athletic enough to not completely fall behind.

However, this turned out not to be the sneakiest route, as Kikuko's Shadow-subjects then began launching attacks from out of the windows, be it arrows or pouring boiling oil. Rise's and to an extent Makoto's Personae though had let them see this coming, with Rise able to dodge and back and forth to the sides while Makoto quickly pulled Sae out of the way.

Nodding in unison, Makoto and Sae were both swift to retaliate by having Santabarbara and Sovereign both smash into the pagoda wall, bombarding the Shadows behind it with a sudden blast of force and sending some of them falling from above. However, this little stunt had gotten the attention of the nearby Shadow in command guarding the border, the dual-cross-bearing knight Kikuko's Shadow had called Hanged Jeanne.

Rise however couldn't join the Niijima sisters against this Shadow, as from out of nowhere she now had a major target of her own to deal with on the balcony. Had she not detected it beforehand, she would've gotten struck dead-centre by a Freidyne blast from that alien knight you'd seen several times now, Star Zorya.

Rise was then able to counter with a Psiodyne courtesy of Xuannu, then went Zorya had been briefly staggered by its mind-altering rays, Rise quickly planted her mic down and, rather than simply whack Zorya with it, instead swung around on it to deliver a flying kick right at Zorya's sides. You were able to quickly follow her up by having Aradia cast Megidola on Zorya, not using Megidolaon due to having to reserve SP, but with the Amp and Boost still doing more than enough damage.

As Zorya was blasted back up to you, she stared at you a second almost like she recognised you, which'd make sense as you'd seen her a couple of times before. Nevertheless, she grinned and drew her sword back out with glee as she tried bearing it down on you, which made you cover your face with your arms to have your tonfas block the blow, not that easy to do while riding with Aradia at the same time. You then moved both your arms out to the sides, striking Zorya twice with your tonfas, before Rise, having used her mic stand as a pole vault to spring herself up here along with Xuannu being airborne, the turned her mic volume up and blasted Zorya with soundwaves, you swerving out of the way with Aradia.

Meanwhile, the Niijima sisters were both confronting Jeanne, whose first move had been to try tripping them both up by entangling them in her banner. Makoto swiftly leapt over it but Sae had been successfully ensnared, at least till she brought forth Sovereign's power to quickly shred herself out.

Makoto moved to have Santabarbara open fire upon Jeanne, only for the Shadow to swiftly revive most of the subjects she'd been leading, sending them all after Makoto. This did leave Sae though to deliver a rapid kick straight at the side of Jeanne's armour, but the Shadow turned out to be quite physically resistant, and she then tried to blast Sae with blinding Blessed light... which Sovereign easily shrugged off.

As you tried to lower yourself back down there, your issues with riding on a crescent moon while balancing became apparent, as you accidentally fell off and down the pagoda. True, you could easily remedy this situation by re-summoning Aradia, but it then turned out you didn't need to.

Zorya, out of some change of heart or being impressed with your fighting skills, suddenly swooped down and picked you up. Pointing to the balcony where the Niijimas were fighting Jeanne, she floated back up there and placed you down by the hole they'd torn, you knowing another step further would activate Kikuko's trapdoors.

Seeing you in person also seemed to trigger something for Jeanne, as she promptly lay down her two crosses and bowed before you, even offering to carry you across the rigged floor.
Makoto paused at the sight, before saying, "Mirror, do you think this Shadow's... someone you know?"

"Well, that sorta thing happened before in these Empires," you said, remembering back to Arachne.

This struggle seemingly resolved, Sae then said, "Well then, how are we supposed to go about commandeering this, ahem, 'vessel'? I haven't exactly spied a rudder or steering wheel anywhere".

"Well, Mirror's got the Wild Card, I'm sure she can just call on a Wind Persona," Rise chimed in, "I mean, Xuannu's got clouds and stuff, but I doubt wind's really her specialty".

You smiled hearing that at first, but then a realisation dawned on you.

"...Ah, you have no Wind Personae in stock, I take it?" Makoto observed. You nodded. Trying to think of something, she then formulated, "Well, we certainly have Nuclear spells".

"Whoa, hold on, you're honestly saying we should blast our way there?" the usually enthusiastic Rise had to be cautious.

"King has a good point, you mean to endanger ourselves?" Sae spoke up.

Makoto sighed and said, "If it helps, I don't think it's exactly a smart plan either, but... it's not like we've got any other option, really, unless you fancy waiting around for all these pagodas to line up".

"Hey look, I can just go back to the Velvet Room and change personae, if it's an issue," you tried to say, "Like, we're not that far in her Empire yet".

"There's no need. I certainly doubt we'll be harmed by our own Persona's skills," Makoto told you, before saying, "And I know you at least have Ice spells to create platforms in the water in case we end up sinking this pagoda".

"Yeah, but... I only have so much SP for those," you mumbled, but it looked like the plan was in place anyway.

Rather than risk contaminating the air with Nuclear spells, you stood out on the balcony with Sae to instead blast your conquered tower across the sea with nothing less than Almighty magic, you figuring you could at least switch to Aiwass with Invigorate if SP became a problem, while Sae had mostly been using physical attacks this far. Rise and Makoto meanwhile had climbed to the top of the pagoda to check your route was clear.

As approval came from above, a Megidola and an Amped and Boosted Megidolaon were more than enough to blast the pagoda across the waves, and even through fog, although an entire side of it beyond that one hole in the wall was blown off in the process.
Rise guiding you to where the strongest signal she could pick up was, you and Sae braced yourselves as your Personae unleashed another set of blasts. Rocketing across the waters again, the mists began to part as you saw a giant torii looming over you, emerging from out of the water. Through this torii was nothing less than a whole palace floating atop the water, while all this time you'd just been expecting a flagship or something. Strangely, this palace only showed up when you peered through the torii, if you tried to look where it was not through it, it didn't show up.

This led to the concern of whether this pagoda could even fit through that torii... but first a whole new problem reared its head, as the whole tower jolted to a halt. Glancing down, you could see the pagoda's base had become completely encrusted in a marshy bog, as a haunting, bass-baritone song filled the air, even tempting Rise to sing along despite the difference in pitch.

"Sirens?" you said at first, before thinking, "No, unless they can also get their voices really low".

Jeanne then dragged you back inside as a rain of icicles suddenly came pelting down your way. Flying above you was a grey-bearded man, said beard looking like clouds, stranding astride his own personal spacecraft, playing a bell-like melody on a giant fish skeleton with strings attached.

"Star Vainamoinen. Ice, Wind, and Psy aren't gonna do anything, but it looks like we can get him with Light, er, Bless" Rise observed.

This was essentially an open invitation to Jeanne, as after casting a threefold Heat Riser on herself, she ran out to disintegrate this Vainamoinen with Hamaon. Still on Aiwass, you leapt onto the balcony just before the floors could collapse on you and, when Vainamoinen went to swerve out of the way of Jeanne's spell, you were able to instead blast him with Kougaon.

However, it turned out the balcony wasn't as safe as you thought, as this one unfolded blow you, sending you falling to the one below which did the same thing. It was then this Vainamoinen swooped down to stop your fall, but unlike with Zorya, this turned out to be a trick, as he froze your fingertips to the sides of his spacecraft, before looking to bludgeon you with his kantele.

It was then though that Jeanne made the leap to be right on top of Vainamoinen, and as she encircled him with her banner, held her cross up in front of the old sorcerer to vapourise him with a much harder to dodge Hamaon. Vainamoinen's song ending on an untimely crescendo as he disintegrated, you then collapsed down onto the swamp he'd made, but then found yourself racing to get back up and in as without its caster it started dissolving back into mud.

As you summoned Aradia again to hoist you up, the whole pagoda was now drifting through that torii regardless of whether anyone'd pushed it. It quickly turned out that it was in fact not big enough to fit, as the whole structure began to crumble as the current dragged it through. However, the entire thing toppled forward like the Tower of Pisa as it did so, giving everyone something of a makeshift bridge to leap across onto the floating palace, before the wreckage of the pagoda all collapsed into a ring of whirlpools surrounding said palace.

<<BGM: Okami - Oni Island>>

"Well, looks like we're here," Rise spoke up, "I mean, where else could this Arena be?"

After all it'd taken to get here, you four were relieved to find this palace was strangely deserted. Passing through two monstrous guardian statues, one red one blue, you found that most of this place was taken up by a single large courtyard, and most of this courtyard was taken up by a giant wooden statue of, you figured, a kami-bodhisattva fusion. Rise took notice of its thousands of arms, Makoto glanced up at its triple-faced head, while Sae looked down at all the lotuses placed around this thing, each with a miniature replica of the statue placed on them.

You froze, fearing this statue would rise to attack you when, even with Aiwass, you'd still used up a ton of SP. Yet that didn't happen, the statue just continued meditating there, as Rise then pulled down on one hand in particular she'd taken notice of, which with a slight rumbling opened a backdoor into this statue.

Stepping through this door, you then almost wished you hadn't, as you'd found this statue had been built over a deep pit down into the waters. Though that wasn't the bad part, the bad part was this pit had filled with a whole mountain of sacrificed human bodies, or at least cognitions of human bodies, bound together with a net.

Pointing at one of these bodies tied near the top, the spitting image of Rokudo Rin, you said back to Sae, "Well, does this convince you she's her killer?"

"Lots of disturbing stuff can show up in a person's mind, killer or not," Rise then said, before admitting, "That said, I've been inside the psyches of murderers before, and even they were less on-the-nose than this".

"Same. But I don't think we'll exactly be able to take her entire corpse back with us though," Makoto said.

"Oh, we should, if I use Escape Route while I'm touching her," you then told them. Doing so, you saw Lauryn's hand broke off just as you were grabbing onto it, yet the spell took effect anyway.

Teleporting back into the prized Pupil lounge, you then saw your entire trip hadn't been for nothing, as her cognitive hand had transformed into a VHS tape with 'Death - Rokudo Rin' scribbled in red ink on the side.

You immediately handed it to Sae, telling her, "While I do think my dad has an old VHS player stored away, I do feel I should probably turn this over to you for evidence, guess that's how it works".

"Thank you, Mirror, but..." Sae then became lost in thought, "You told us your Duel was on Friday, correct? I'm sure you're aware that law isn't exactly fast-moving, so that likely won't be enough time to convict Kikuko, Azuma, or anyone by, let alone finding someone who will. In the worst case, I can promise you that, even if you become one of her victims this Friday, the killer will certainly not escape with their crimes".

"Yeah well, past Friday, um, the thing is-" you started stuttering, "Guess it's about time you learned what happens when you 'win' the Gameboard. Either Kikuko or Azuma could be a full-blown deity by the time you're ready to convict them".

"Huh, what do you mean?" Rise asked.

"The 'prize' for winning the Persona Game? You get made the next Morrigan, Ruler of War, Aspect of Death," you told them, "Getting the chance to meet with the current Morrigan, she told me herself".

"...Aspect of Death?" Rise gasped, "I-I've heard that term before. That won't make Azuma or Kikuko or whoever invincible or anything, but definitely way than the justice system alone can rein in".

"But wait, by that logic, wouldn't that mean you'd have the chance to become the next Morrigan?" Makoto noticed.

You sighed, "It's not exactly something I like thinking about, right now I'm just focused on surviving these next two fights, and making sure they don't end in death again, let alone any 'prize' waiting for me," you made clear.

"Hey look, Honoka, there's like a whole community of Persona-users out there," Makoto stepped forth and smiled to comfort you, "So... even if you really do get killed on Friday, then the new Morrigan oughta know that they'll have painted a huge target on their backs, as us three alert every Persona-user we know of them".

- Rebirth has Journeyed to Rank 9! -

You had to smile, "Hey thanks, I needed to hear that".