"So how long more?" Ken asked, restless at this point.

"We're... Almost there." Touka reassured the company, but in reality we didn't know where we were. Touka was sweating a lot, it seemed like she wasn't sure where we were.

"Touka... Let's take a break for a bit." I told Touka. She nodded and told the other 18 members to rest up. I then tried to find a high place to scan the area for shadows and what not. Ken had followed me, as backup.

"So, where are we actually heading?" Ken was curious, most likely he was suspicious about our expedition. We are still in Yokohama but the 'Lost Eden' stretches Yokohama, making it seem bigger and wider than it originally was.

"It should be... Around there. " I pointed in a far away building, near a big tree.

"There huh? You sure we'll be alright?" Ken was worried, worried mostly about the new recruits. We lost members before this and this is the most members we got, so it would be a big loss to S.S.E.C.

"It'll be fine. Let's head back to Touka." I took my weapons and sheathed them. Ken followed suit, while still scanning the area. The 'Lost Eden' has been experiencing new changes everyday and we've tried our best to stick with the change. Once we got back, We headed North East, towards the big tree, The Tree of Souls. We marched, for what seem like hours.

"There it is!" Touka pointed at a building, it wasn't an important building nor did it had any financial value to it. It seemed like an abandoned apartment. I wonder did we even get the location correct?

"Vice, are you sure this is the place?" An uncertain member asked. He was Kise Ishigami, a veteran and one of the people which I'm closest to in this company.

"Yeah, no doubt about it. It just screams "THERE ARE SHADOWS IN HERE!", kinda building." I joked. Gwen and Touka had went in and were the first to enter. We followed in second and the rest followed us one by one.

"We should be able to get out of here quickly if we put down a trail." I suggested. Ken had put down a bit of trail down.

"Ken, be careful. You don't want to slip and hit your head." Gwen advised him. She's right, it was slippery the entire time. This building was so mysterious.... That the memory of that still haunts me.

"Hey, I see something here!" Ken shouted. He saw a type of darkness, or some kind of ghoul. It must be a shadow. We checked it out... But there was nothing.... At first. We looked up and saw a dead body. A female. Both of us was scared stiff, though Ken tried to ignore it.

"Hey, you guys see something?" Gwen asked the both of us.

"Its... Its a... Body." He looked down, trying not to picture the image of that dead corpse, that was hanged. I did the same just this time, I could clearly remember its face. The horror.

"... Corpse? Y-You sure?" Gwen stuttered. She was terrified, well I couldn't blame her. Anyone would. Only a killer would not stand there in shock. I decided to move forward, not looking back at that corpse. I... You could say I was fine but I was terrified. No man is terrified by death, no matter how insane he was.... But him. He was different.

"Welcome, to my palace!" A man, he had a mask on that revealed his mouth. He wore clothes in a clad black and grey, a blazer and a grey vest inside. He had a stopwatch in his left pocket of the vest and wore a tie too. He wore slacks, dirty and tap shoes. He was... Mysterious. Everyone was shocked. Who was he?

"Who are you?" Kise asked, eyed the suspicious fellow.

"Me? I am merely a pawn for the almighty one!" He said, his words were filled with generosity. Most of the members took out their weapons, scared and afraid of what he might do next.

"Oh? You take out your weapons as to oppose one of the apostles!?" He roared, the sound echoed through the building. Apostle? Who? What is he talking about?

"Is this guy even right in the head?" I whispered to Touka.

"I don't know. He maybe dangerous." She whispered back but he could hear of conversation.

"Ah! You think that I am a threat... Haha... No no no. I'm no threat at all. Just... A normal man." He said, smiling devilishly. He looked crazy, insane when he showed us that smile. I felt like he lost it.

"Then? What are you?" Ken tried to find answers but before he could get an answer, he got attacked by a shadow. Right out of nowhere.

"Ken!" Gwen quickly ran towards him, as he tries to fend himself from the shadow. The other members looked at the man in black and approached him, slowly. He knew what he got into.... And he repaid us.

"I see you're advancing at me, but... No worries. Let's have some fun, shall we? Phobetor!" He screamed, letting out a roar before summoning something. A persona. Everyone was in shock. He can use a persona!? As the members who advanced him try fend them off, shadows came from behind of us.

"Incoming! From behind!" Kise told the rest who didn't knew. We took out our weapons and fended them off.

"Vitrus!" I summoned my persona, trying to get them back.

"Leto!" Touka was in charge to heal the other members, but due to some carelessness, she was hurt and knocked out cold.

"Touka!" I began clearing the path towards her body, as I see all the members getting slain by the man in black.

"HEHE HEHE HEHE HEHE! IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE!?" He mocked them, kicking their bodies from the floor. I could see Kise still holding up. When I was near Touka, she was unconscious still. Her head bleeding.

"She hit her head... Shit! What happened! Why did things have to go this way! Why did they have to-" Before I could finish, I saw someone's body flying towards me. I dodged and scanned the person. It was Kise. I froze up, didn't know what to do. I checked his pulse. He was gone. His face... He was terrified. It showed the fear of death. And at that moment, I couldn't think anymore. My mind went blank.

.... And I couldn't recover what else had happened. Before I knew it, I was outside of the building. Carrying Touka. When I reached a good distance from it, I rested Touka down on a soft place. I looked back at the building. It was on fire. Fire spreading and screams of agony could be heard.

"ARGHHHH!!!!!" Screams from that building. It was burned into my mind. It was like on replay. Again and again I geared those voices and kneeled. I cried and shouted. I couldn't do anything but run. I ran away.... I'm a coward.

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"... And that's the end of it." Suzuki ended the sad and horrifying story. Kaidou and I was scared stiff. We couldn't move. We felt like something grew inside of us. Fear.

"I... I..." Kaidou was speechless. The story itself was just plain right depressing. The people before us, they died just a couple months ago, when I came to this city. 25th December. Was it coincidence? That's time... I did hear voice though. Well, I shouldn't think into it to hard. It might worn me out.

"So, what happened to you two after that?" I asked Suzuki another question.

"Well, Touka and I was in rehabilitation for awhile and as such, the head of The Kirijo group sent it someone to supervise, Ms. Kikuno." Suzuki explained more towards it.

"... He didn't even came..." Touka whispered something under her breath, but I could hear a bit of it. "He"? I wonder who she was talking about.

"Anyway, enough of that depressing story. Let's head back." Suzuki told us, surprising both of us.

"Wha-? Wait we didn't do anything yet?" Kaidou was surprised since we didn't encounter any Shadows.

"Yeah, maybe we're lucky." There was this unsettling feeling in my heart. I felt like... I could feel someone's gaze.

"Don't trigger a flag please, Suzuki." Touka complained, reminding her of the story he just told. She's right.

"...!?" As soon as she said that, I saw movement from up above. We were near the Yokohama Sky Tower.

"Did you see that?" Enki whispered, felt the presence too.

"Yeah, it was filled with malice. Where did it come from?" I stopped, looking around frantically. Kaidou turned around at me, wondering what was going on.

"What is it?" Ms. Kikuno asked, removing the holster from her gun.

"No, I sensed something just no-!" I felt the presence again, this time it was heading towards me. Faster than before, I tried to dodge it's attack.

"Ryu!" Kaidou ran towards me, and took out his 'Ecstasy'. I wondered why so I turn around to see a black malicious figure. It was a shadow.

"Goddamit..." Suzuki gritted his teeth, equipping his weapons.

"IT'S A SHADOW, GET READY!"