I’m lying on my back on the floor. I feel something small standing on my stomach. I open my eyes to see Ted peering over me.

“Hey, watch where you stick your face!” I shout in surprise, sitting up and knocking him off.

“My apologies. I did not mean anything by it.”

I get to my feet and try to take in my surroundings. I’m in some sort of hallway, but one that is different than where I was. Like in the previous chamber, the floor is covered by a red carpet, and there are paintings on the wall with solid gold frames that depict angelic beings, which are thankfully not as creepy as those damn statues.

“Where are the other two? Anja and Nova?” Ted asks.

Anja and Nova… they… oh fuck.

I whirl around, and I see a door just like the one we entered through.

“How did I get here?” I ask him.

“Just now, you walked in through that door and collapsed onto the floor,” he explains.

“I… did? So, how did you get in here? Where were you in the last chamber?”

“The last chamber?” he asks, frowning. “The front door led directly to this room…”

“No, it didn’t. The three of us ended up in this endless hallway… We tried to get to the end, but uh… there was something weird about that chamber. It like, made us want to quit.

I reach for the door and try to open it. It won’t budge.

“FUCK!” I shout, kicking the door in anger. “We have to get them out of there, Ted.”

“I know. It sounds like the room is cursed in some way,” Ted speculates. “We must look around for a way to deactivate the curse.”

“What makes you think we can just… turn this off?” I question him. “How were we able to get through it and not them, anyway?”

“Well, how did you get through it?”

That’s a good question. I try to remember what happened…

“Well… I remember walking in the chamber, and feeling a little weird mentally. I turned to see if Anja and Nova were following me, and they were gone. I found Anja, but she was acting really weird. She was saying that she didn’t give a shit about our mission or anything. It was totally unlike her. I got mad, and I kept on walking by myself.”

“So you left them behind?” Ted questions me.

“Hey, shut up and let me finish. I kept walking, but I felt this sort of pull inside of me. It got stronger and stronger the longer I walked. Then I had some weird flashback to something from my childhood… except it was different… Well, we don’t really need to talk about that. It was bizarre…”

Thinking back to what just happened gives me a rather unpleasant feeling. What the hell was that chamber, anyway? I don’t want to have to go through something like that again.

At that moment, I am startled to see that someone else has joined us. It appears to be a young adult man. He has dark hair that is styled to the side and a slight amount of stubble as well as a tall and lean figure. He’s wearing a black vest that is unbuttoned to reveal a tight red undershirt, and skinny jeans. He looks sort of like someone you’d expect to see on TV, and certainly not someone you’d expect to see in a small-town courthouse. The man is slowly approaching us, his footsteps inaudible.

“Stop right there,” I command him, drawing my sword.

“Hey now babe. No need to act so cold towards me,” he says in a sultry voice, stopping and leaning against the wall casually.

“Don’t call me that. State your name and business.”

For a brief moment, I see anger flash across his face… but as soon as it appears, it’s gone, and replaced with an earnest and businesslike expression. He also stops leaning against the wall, and instead crosses his arms over his front. The lengths he is going to for the purpose of making me feel at ease are suspicious…

“Certainly. My name is Luke. I am a cognitive being of Justice Pavia’s palace.”

“A cognitive being?” I ask.

“Yes. Did your master not tell you about cognitive beings?”

I think back to our conversation with Lucy on Sunday. She did warn us against shapeshifting demons and opposing Persona users but didn’t say anything about “cognitive beings.” Could this be a trick?

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” Luke says. “A cognitive being is someone who may appear in a palace. They will take the appearance of someone the palace owner knows in real life. In my case, I am his real-life assistant. While I take his appearance, I am really a figment of Pavia’s imagination. I’m the version of ‘Luke’ that exists in his head…”

“Well, Pavia must not have a very high opinion of his assistant, given that his ‘cognitive version’ seems to like hitting on underage girls,” I comment.

“Oh, my apologies. You looked much older, I had no idea,” Luke assures me.

Ted clears his throat, and then comments, “For a cognitive version, you’re rather self-aware. How would a cognitive person know all of this?”

“Oh, now that’s very interesting,” Luke responds. “I’ve never seen a creature quite like yourself. Where did you come from, talking armadillo man?”

“Don’t change the subject,” I order him. “Thought we wouldn’t notice that slick little dodge, hmm?”

“Well, you’re a very sharp young lady,” he compliments. “It’s no wonder that you were able to make it through the Judgement Chamber.”

Oh yeah, that reminds me. “I have two friends who were left behind in the chamber. How do I get them out?” I ask him.

“Hmm, you have friends in there? Well, I will take you to my master. Perhaps he will be able to help. Follow me, if you will.”

He begins walking the other direction down the hallway. Curious to see where this goes, Ted and I follow him.

After a short walk, Luke leads me into a different room. It’s a courtroom, probably one which is fairly similar to the real one, except everything is made out of white marble. It almost looks too clean. It makes me want to splash a bunch of paint around the room or something just to throw off the perfection of it.

At the other end of the room, I see the man in charge; Pavia is sitting in a chair behind his stand. Other than him, Ted, Luke and I, the room is empty. All of the benches are vacant.

“Aha, I thought I’d see you here eventually,” Pavia says, smiling at me as Luke leads me down the center aisle.

“Is that so?” I ask.

“Yes. I had a feeling when I saw you with your friends yesterday that you were different. And I was right; you have emerged from the Judgement Chamber, and they have not.”

“Yes. Although I’m really not sure what that even means,” I admit. “I don’t really remember exactly how I got through it…”

“You were able to get through it because you’re someone who’s willing to do what needs to be done,” he explains. “You’re not weak.”

“I see,” I say, feeling a little proud despite myself. “Then what about Ted here? He didn’t have to go through the chamber at all.”

“Aye, my judgement was handed down long ago,” Ted explains. “I was judged for my sins, and now I live out my punishment.”

“…Or, alternatively,” Luke buts in, “Maybe he just doesn’t qualify for being judged by the chamber because he’s an animal. Occam’s razor.”

“Well, I am not concerned with the little creature,” Pavia says dismissively. “You got through the chamber, ginger girl. You must be here because you want to fight me, correct? Well, you passed the test. I will meet you in battle.”

“I do want to fight you,” I tell him. “But not now. I need to go get our remaining party members.”

“Please, don’t bother,” Pavia urges me. “I have no interest in weaklings such as them.”

“Yeah, but Nova’s the one who’s being fucked over by your actions, not me,” I state. “It’s only fair to give him a shot.”

Pavia sighs, looking disappointed with me. “Perhaps you getting through the chamber was just a fluke. You are clearly misguided in your view of ‘fairness…’”

“Dude, you’re the one who has a palace of distorted desires. Not me,” I point out. I walk up to the desk and put my hands on it to show that I mean business. “And admit it. You selectively favor rich people in your trials. We know all about it. What is it? Enjoy the bribe money?”

Pavia laughs at me disdainfully. “I have been in office since before you were born. And I have never once taken a bribe. If that boy stays under the care of a weak, uneducated man like that, he will never find any success in life.”

“Okay, so maybe Nova’s not exactly a straight shooter,” I admit. “But from all accounts, his father seems to genuinely love him. Whereas his mom treats him like a trophy boy that exists to make her look good. Does that mean nothing to you?”

“Love won’t get him a job,” Pavia counters. “Love won’t get him wealth, or fame, or success. Does that mean nothing to you?”

For some reason, this strikes a nerve with me, and I find myself at a loss for words.

Now looking rather bored, Pavia snaps his fingers. On either side of the stand, two huge figures appear. They look like knights of some sort. Like me, they’re covered in armor, though they also have metallic heads, making them a bit more robotic. They’re over double my height; they must be about thirteen feet (note: four meters) tall.

“This girl turned out to be a disappointment,” Pavia whines to them. “Take her and her friends back to the entrance so that they’re out of my hair.”

“I see you have more cognitive people under your command,” Ted observes.

“Actually, those two are just shadows,” Luke comments smugly. “So long, Ashley and Ted.”

As the two knights lead Ted and I out of the chamber, I swear I hear a snippet of Luke and Pavia’s muttered conversation from behind me…

“Well, that was anti-climactic,” Pavia growls.

“Don’t you worry,” Luke assures him. “She’ll be back before long. Take it from my own personal experience- I know a stubborn bitch when I see one.”

The knights lead us out of the courtroom, and back into the hallway connecting the courtroom to the Judgement Chamber or whatever.

I find myself inexplicably frustrated. How did I get through that chamber, then? Pavia said that it meant I “need to do what needs to be done,” but then he just turned me away anyway. What did he want? I try and remember what actually happened. I remember really strongly wanting to break down and cry… I suppose being able to resist that impulse means something. But then what did that flashback mean? It was an old flashback of me rejecting my mom’s offer for support; and then I went into my room and prayed; and then Aiko was there? I can’t make heads or tails of it.

“Psst… what is our plan from here?” Ted asks in a hoarse whisper.

“I’m open to ideas if you have them,” I say.

“What troubles you, Ashley?” he asks me, evidently reading the tone of my voice.

“I’m having trouble figuring out how to explain it adequately,” I admit. “I guess it’s that… technically, what Pavia’s saying isn’t entirely wrong… like, it is nice to have a job and everything… hard work is a virtue, after all.”

“Of course,” Ted replies. “But what is the best thing for Nova?”

“Well… he should still be with his dad… money doesn’t matter so much when you’re so traumatized by the abuse you received that…”

I groan, put my hands on top of my head, and start pulling my hair in agitation. “Look, can we please talk about this later?”

“Hey! Quiet back there!” One of the knights says. His voice sounds like a typical human baritone voice, except slightly roboticized, like he was put through bad autotune.

A little while later, we’re back at the front chamber. One of the knights puts his hand on the door and closes his eyes. The palm of his hand starts emitting a pure white glow. He leaves it there for a few seconds, and then removes it.

“Alright. I have temporarily lifted the curse of the Chamber, so that you and your friends may promptly leave,” he says to Ted and I.

“Okay, great,” I reply. “Hey Ted, you think we can take them?”

“We don’t know anything about these shadows,” Ted reasons. “I have no way of knowing.”

“Well, it’s like my mom always says. If you don’t try, the answer is always ‘no’...”

He looks apprehensive, but nods in agreement anyway.

“That’s very funny,” the other knight says, though he says it in a flat voice. “So, you two think you can take us, huh?”

“I’m sorry, who are you supposed to be?” the first knight says. “Some teenage girl who thinks she’s Joan of Arc or something?”

“You know what, I think I’ve seen this girl before! She was on one of those Japanese cartoons!”

These two have officially annoyed me, which means it’s time for battle.

I figure it makes sense to start with a “divide and conquer” strategy, so I take the one on the left. He doesn’t seem to have any weapons, but given the size of this thing I don’t particularly want to be punched by him.

“Oh what, are you going to fight me? Ah, kids these days. There’s so many things that they don’t understand…” And without any further warning, he kicks out his foot straight at me, which I’m only narrowly able to dodge.

This thing is surprisingly agile, so I’m going to need to keep my distance and look for a weak point. While he is still off balance from the kick, I run forward and slash the other leg, mostly to test the sword’s effectiveness. It does scratch the armor, but it doesn’t seem to be as effective as I would’ve wanted. I run out of the way in time to avoid the counter punch.

“What are you going to do with that puny thing? You can’t penetrate me!” he taunts.

This is immensely frustrating to me… Surely, I must have something up my sleeve.

He aims a big punch at me. I try to stop it with my hand, but I end up just being knocked back straight against a wall, where I fall onto the floor on my butt.

Then, my foe begins to do something troubling. His eyes start glowing, and he speaks in a terrible voice, one which is his own layered with other, lower pitched voices: “Have a taste of your final fate!”

He claps his hands in front of him, which releases a shockwave of bright white light that shoots straight for me and… I feel absolutely nothing.

“Hmm. My final fate actually isn’t looking too bad,” I mock, jumping to my feet. I notice that some of the light has lingered around me, seemingly circling around, and this gives me an idea. Struck by inexplicable inspiration, I reach out my hand towards him, shooting the light back at him like a whip… and then I clench my fist.

This does noticeably more to help my cause than the sword did. He gives a surprised grunt and stumbles backwards. I can now see a few dents in his armor. I am pleased at this, but it also seems like my spell was a limited time offer- the light around me has entirely diminished.

In addition, it seems like I pissed him off. He starts attacking me with serious vigor. I duck and roll out of the way of a punch, then sidestep a kick, but the third time’s the charm, and I am caught in the back of the head with a punch so strong that I would’ve lost a significant number of brain cells had this been the real world. I also get knocked flat on my face, and in the shock of the blow I lose my grip on the sword and it clatters onto the floor.

He sticks his metal foot on my back. Well, that just won’t do at all, now will it?

I push myself, and it seems like I’m able to throw him off balance purely based on the element of surprise. Without any time to think of a plan, I end up just blindly running into him like a savage and wrapping my arms around his neck from behind.

He repeatedly punches my arms, but I ignore the pain and focus on trying to tear his stupid head off. He runs backwards and slams me straight into the wall with extreme force, then steps back forward. This crushes my body so hard that I feel like a crumpled-up newspaper, and I collapse straight onto the floor yet again.

He turns around for another attack, but then is interrupted by a huge blast of fire which sends him flying into the wall. Looks like Ted saved my ass yet again…

“You can finish him off!” Ted shouts. I look over, and he’s moving his hand towards me as if caressing the air… A warm feeling fills me, and I feel a considerable amount of my previous pain fade away.

The other knight recovers, and Ted has to divert his attention back to him. I jump to my feet and turn to face my own foe, who is also getting back on his feet.

“You can kiss my shiny metal ass!” The knight yells at me, incensed.

“I’m not much of an ass-kisser,” I explain. “I prefer to make my own way in life.”

He charges towards me, but now that I see it coming, I’m able to handily jump to the side. I pick up my sword from the floor, and furiously slash at him. Maybe now that he’s been weakened, I’ll be able to finish him off the old-fashioned way.

He aims another punch, but I sway to the left, jump into the air and stab my sword straight into his chest. I catch an existing dent just right and manage to puncture straight through. The momentum carries us straight forward, until the sword gets partially buried into the wall. The force of the collision also sends me stumbling backwards.

Surprisingly, I see blood begin to pour from where I cut through him. He seems remarkably unperturbed by this, showing no emotion other than pouting that he lost. Shortly afterwards, he starts to fade away, evaporating into the air around him.

I turn around to see Ted dashing towards me on all fours. The other knight is nowhere to be seen, so he must have already won his side of the fight.

“Looks like I owe you a thanks… again,” I begrudgingly tell him.

“No thanks needed. I’m here for anything you need,” Ted remarks, tipping his hat to me. “Shall we go retrieve Anja and Nova?”

“Well, if the curse is off, they’re probably about to make it out of the chamber themselves anyway,” I reason. “Let’s just wait for them.”

“Alright, fair enough,” he agrees.

So wait we do. I just hope that when Anja and Nova show up, they’re both in the mood for actually being helpful…