Sa, 6/24 (2/2)

Saturday, June 24th/ Reflection.

… Without stopping to even read the plaque, we enter Weiss Gardens.

Just like how the other two areas before are completely opposite of each other, this section of the gardens is vastly different from what we've seen so far. It appears to be quite normal, with a neatly mowed grass, perfectly square bushes and trees and walkways devoid of any sort of stain or indentation on it. Everything is taken care of to the point of uncanniness, to the point that everything appears flat unless one looks closely. But even then, I waste no more time gazing at the scenery and instead focus on finding a path or even a trace to follow. "Do you guys see anything?" I ask with urgency.

"Uh, not really. Only that this place is really freaky," Yang says while eyeing the place. "I already knew that this girl Weiss was a bit square, but this is ridiculous."

"Maybe she doesn't actually feel that way, but instead is something her dad is imposing on her?" Jaune suggests before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know, I'm just tired of all this symbolic stuff."

"In any case, we have to find Schnee as fast as we can." Ren points out.

"I know. It'd be a lot faster if I knew where to look for her, though." I say while Yang taps my shoulder.

"Maybe she's over there?" She says, pointing over a form in the distance.

On top of a rather tall, tree covered hill is a clearing surrounding a large tree on its summit, filled with ripe fruit. The only reason I could tell it has fruit in it is because I could see its green leaves and bright green and red fruits covering its top. "That's a good start." I say, with a newfound mood.

Meanwhile, Jaune vocally expresses his disbelief. "Seriously! How are we just noticing this stuff after it is pointed out?!"

"Still, that's a point of interest," Ren says. "Might as well go over there. With any luck, we will find Schnee herself in there."

With a wordless order, I start my way towards the hill as fast as my armor would let me, the rest following close behind. We avoid and outrun any Shadow that appears in our way, slowly but surely approaching the foot of the hill. Then, we start our hike up the elevation, climbing the hill in a single line through trees and boulders, until we reach a single path that goes straight up the small mountain.

As the top gets closer and closer, the trees covering the hill begin to arrange themselves in "aisles", appearing as columns supporting a ceiling of leaves and branches, all of the same size and on the same distance from each other. The grass under my feet also starts feeling softer, muffling the sound of my footsteps the further we go up. Finally, I see the opening in the clearing, and all four of us step into the hill's summit.

A flat foundation has been laid out inside the clearing, where a magnificent, hexagonal courtyard has been erected. Bushes and fountains adorned its perimeter, and small hedges criss-cross the area. A small staircase goes up to a small terrace surrounding the exuberantly brilliant tree that acts as the centerpiece of the courtyard. On the terrace right across of us, however, I spot the person we're looking for.

"Weiss!" I call after her. She is sitting on a lavishly decorated chair with her head downcast, while being overlooked by the Shadow that resembles her dad. The Shadow turns to regard us in mild surprise while she looks up, completely astonished.

"Ruby?"

"You children are persistent, I give you that. But that barely matters at this moment," The fake Jacques says as he turns away from us. "Besides, I refuse to treat people who can not abide by any demands. You kids being here is enough proof of that."

I ignore the Shadow and address Weiss again. "Weiss, come now. We'll get you out of here!" Weiss' eyes shoot wide open, before taking a fearful glance at the Shadow.

"Hm-hm-hm. And where exactly do you want to take her?" It questions, fully turning towards us.

"As far away from you as possible." Jaune says, the warning in his voice evident.

The Shadow on its part chuckles again before speaking again with a smug smile. "And what makes you think she wants that?"

I ignore it again before stepping forwards and talk over its voice. "Weiss, we get it. You think that you have to live up to your dad's expectations," I speak, seeing her slowly lift up he gaze while the Shadow regards me with a glare. "But it's wrong that you let him control your life the way he does."

"She's right! There's no way your real dad would want you to feel that way!" Yang reaffirms.

"My… real Father?" Weiss echoes before continuing in a whisper. "No… you don't understand. He only cares for the company."

"That can't be true." I say.

"You don't know the truth!" Weiss screams, standing up from the chair so fast that it almost falls off. "You haven't lived knowing him. Watching him destroy your family from the inside for ten years!" She suddenly shouts, making all of us stop on the spot.

"The Schnee name is no longer a family. It is a front. I barely get see Winter or my Mother in a month, less so in a year, all because he has done everything to alienate them," She clenches her fists. "Ever since he convinced my Grandfather to hand over the company to him, and after he died, my Father has done nothing but to break our family apart.

"From admitting his true motives for marrying into the Family, to disowning Winter… Everything was done only to further his goal of wealth and reputation. Marrying my mother was a business venture, and each of us is just a project investment. He never cared about our family," Weiss is trembling, before looking up and directing a death glare at the Shadow. "All you ever care about is yourself!"

The Shadow glares back at her before taking on a patronizing tone. "My poor child, you are absolutely correct!" It then raises his hands to the air, as the grin on its face and the darkness around its feet grow in size. "Why, I am the main reason the company of that idiot Nicholas' pathetic company grew into the successful corporation it is today! I! Everybody ought to remember this fact!"

"So that's what it is," Ren interjects, his eyes thinning into a glare as he continues calmly. "That's the real reason behind this annual gathering. He's not trying to honor Nicholas Schnee's memory, but instead taking the fact that he inherited the company and rubbing it on everybody's noses."

"You are smart, boy! Yes, that is my sole intention!" The Shadow says, slouching forward and moving his hands erratically. "Who cares if I burn down a few bridges here and there? I don't care about any of them! All I should ever care is my corporation and its future," It then motions to Weiss. "Which is why I keep this one on a leash!"

I feel a fire bursting in my gut. "Excuse me?"

The Shadow simply smiles. "My other daughter walked out on me, and my son is a tool. I can not leave the Schnee Tech Corp in their hands. Weiss is my only viable option," It raises its hands again. "But a child needs to be taught. Groomed, shaped. So that it will one day be a person that can take on my legacy!"

"And become what?" Weiss cries. "Another you?"

"Do not talk back!" The Shadow snaps back. "Now, behave like a good child, and I'll forget about everything you said just now." It says more calmly, the corners of his lips picking above the edges of his mustache. Weiss falters, resting her hands to the sides of her body and casting her head low. "That's a good girl. You see? It is easy make people obey you, whether it is through what they want or what they fear. Of course that in this case, I know what Weiss is most afraid off," The Shadow lectures before lifting its arms to the side of his body. "After all, I am her worst fear!" It admits as he lets out a distorted laugh.

However, Weiss' hand starts trembling before closing a fist and stammering a single word out. "N-no."

That erases the grin on the Shadow's face. "Excuse ME?"

"I said… No~Hurgh!" Weiss chokes out as a bramble shoots out of the ground behind her and ties itself around her neck.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST DO WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT? DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING? I AM YOUR FATHER, AND I KNOW WHAT'S BEST. INCLUDING WHAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO!" The Shadow bellows, the dark aura that surrounded its feet climbing to its entire body. "IT SEEMS LIKE YOU NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THIS!" It yells as it raises a hand over Weiss.

However, it doesn't have the chance to bring it down as Yang lunges towards it, going for a jab at its side which it dodges before leaping out of the way while Jaune goes and swings his sword towards the living root and removing its end from Weiss' neck. The Shadow then lands a few feet away in front of the tree as Ren and I join the group and stand between it and Weiss. "You're the one who doesn't know anything!" I yell while pointing my glaive threateningly at it. "Weiss has the right to be supported by the people around her. And that's what we'll do, starting by taking you out!"

The Shadow scowls at us as the darkness around it grows thicker, drifting towards the Tree behind it, which shakes and twists as it's imbued by it. "I AM TERRIBLY SORRY, WEISS. IT APPEARS THAT LIKE YOUR SISTER, YOU'VE BECOME ANOTHER DISAPPOINTMENT!" The tree trunk opens up like a sideways mouth that swallows the Shadow's body, before it starts twisting in bizarre shapes and forms. It sheds several leaves while the fruit hanging from its jagged branches withers and rots while still hanging from it. The trunk twists around itself several times like a piece of taffy, giving it a strange helix shape at the same time it grows in width and its roots dig themselves out of the dirt, turning into a set of five misshapen legs along with two clawed arms wrapped in thorny vines.

The arms pick up stones and slabs of dirt from the ground and throw it at its own trunk, slowly assembling a twisted facade of Jacques Schnee's Face, with glowing red arms and a growling maw covered with a mossy mustache. "I'LL DISPOSE OF ALL THE WORTHLESS TRASH!" It roars.

"Fa- father?" Weiss mutters, eyes wide in disbelief.

"No. That thing isn't your dad." Jaune explains, adjusting the grip on his sword.

"We'll explain everything when we get out of here, but for the moment you need to stay back. We'll keep you safe." I reassure her as I hold my weapon to my back at the ready. "Everyone else, let's cut this weed down!"

"YOU CANNOT STOP ME. YOU ARE NOTHING NEXT TO ME!" The Shadow Tree rambles, shaking its body as it screams. "I AM SUPERIOR!"

The Shadow brings its two hands to cover its mouth, before it opens widely, releasing a miasma of grey gas into the air, making us all cough from it. "Is everyone okay?!" I quickly ask while checking on everyone.

"Yeah, just a bit~ Puaj!" Yang exclaims as a rotten apple splatters on her face, prompting her into a fit of gagging and spitting. "Gross! Gross-gross-gross-gross-gross-gross-gross!"

"JUST AS I EXPECTED. YOU KIDS ARE NOT EVEN CAPABLE OF PROPERLY FACING ME!"

"Shut UP ALREADY! MITHRA!" I summon a winged, lion-headed demon, its legs wrapped in a snake's coils. It raises two obsidian knives over its head and throws a sphere of pure light at the face of the tree, exploding in burning light in all directions. Ren follows up with Yoshitsune, swinging both his swords as if they were a single blade, slashing across the Shadows trunk, barely doing any damage to it.

"Shoot. Physical attacks don't do much to this one either." He says as Yoshitsune disappears behind him.

"Then let's throw magic at it then. Setanta!" Jaune calls his Persona, conjuring lighting from his spear and shooting it at the Shadow. Soon, Sati aims her finger-guns at it and lets loose a stream of fire that engulfs the tree. A few seconds after, the fire dissipate and the Shadow doesn't seem much worse of wear.

"What?! That's buls~ Cough, hack!" Yang suddenly is caught in another fit of coughing, doubling over and spitting some sort of green bile.

"Ew! You okay?" Jaune asks, eyeing her with concern, while also covering his mouth and nose.

Before she can even answer, the tree opens its grotesque mouth and lets out a massive blizzard, blowing all over us. I barely feel the cold as the shards of glass shatter harmlessly on my body. "Ren, what should we do?" I ask as the blizzard dies out, only to be answered by silence. "Ren?" I ask again, turning to look at him. "Aaah! You're frozen!"

Ren is standing, stuck in a defensive position, but covered from head to toe with a thin layer of ice, and his body is ever so slightly shivering in place. His teeth chatter as he tries to speak between puffs of warm air. "I-I-I-I am a-a-a-a-ware…"

I panic for a second before changing Personas. "Uh, Nigi Mitama!" A blue droplet with a smiling face appears in the air and rains a bright liquid over Ren, quickly thawing him out of the ice. "Are you okay?!"

Ren prods his arms and chest before sighing. "I'll live. As for your other question, we need to focus on getting as much damage in as possible." He says as he summons his Persona again, who causes a column of green light to fall on Yang and making her outline to blur a bit.

"Good plan," I nod before turning from him. "Jaune, please take care of healing."

"I think I can do even more than that, Setanta." Jaune's Persona descends on the field and emits a violet light onto me. I feel my skin and bones hardening a bit under my armor. "Got you covered."

"Well, then I'll also do this!" Yang says as Sati emerges behind her, imbuing her body in a golden light. However, even after that she spits a bit of phlegm out of her mouth. "Oh, come *hurk* on…"

The Shadow's claws start dripping a black-red energy that turns into shadowy tendrils that shoot towards me, intent on turning me into a pin-cushion. However, Nigi Mitama appears before me and redirects the tendrils back at the Shadow, which somehow isn't damaged when it gets stabbed by them. In fact, the tendrils sink into it, making all of its other injuries and broken pieces to grow back together. "Okay, that's creepy."

"I'll say. It absorbed its own attack by reflecting it into you. We can't let it exploit that." Ren says with urgency.

"I know!" I answer back, switching Personas once again. "Oberon!" The fae king appears, brandishing lightning at the Shadow, lighting it up like a christmas tree, followed by another psy-beam attack from Yoshitsune. Jaune keeps good on his role and heals all of us, before Yang lets Sati loose with a sound-breaking fist into the Shadows ugly face. However, she keeps spitting that bile and shivering afterwards.

"Ugh… I'm sick of this." Yang mutters, while wiping a bit of goo from her mouth.

The Shadow then rears back its front legs before stomping hard on the floor, burying its roots back under the earth. Suddenly, both roots sprout from the ground in front of Jaune, whipping him with black covered tendrils on his face and chest. He shakes off the surprise, but when he looks back at the enemy, his pupils shrink into specks. "Wha… what the… ah… AHHhhhhhh!"

"Jaune?" I watch as he starts screaming in fear, opting to crouch into a ball and cover his head with his arms. "Jaune?! What's happening?"

"He's afraid. That last attack must have struck him with fear." Ren says matter of factly. "Do the same thing you did to thaw me out, I'll take care of Xiao Long."

"Wait what?" Yang asks in a deadpan tone.

I pause for a second, before switch back to Nigi Mitama, who appears before Jaune and splashes some blue liquid on the face, which seems to snap him out of his fit with a start. After that, Ren summons his Persona, who does another series of hand gestures before pressing a giant finger on Yang's abdomen. Immediately after, her shivering stops and some color returns to her face. She looks herself over before turning to Ren with a look that says "What the hell, man?" at which Ren responds with a sheepish shrug.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm even more angry at that thing. Setanta." Jaune's Persona descends once again and shoots lightning at the Shadow, while Yang has Sati land another ground-shaking punch. I suddenly feel something wrapping around my foot, so I look down and see another living bramble tired around my ankle, trying to bury itself into my skin. I am overcome with some dizziness, before I shake it off and stab my glaive on top of it. Looking back at the Shadow, I see that it is healing again.

"Okay, that's it! Everyone, hit it with the best you have!" I call as I switch Personas once again. "Oberon!"

"Yoshitsune!"

"Setanta!"

"Sati!"

The Shadow is struck by an assault of electricity, psycho-delic beams and a flurry of kicks and punches all over its body. However, it snarls as it swats Sati away and starts speaking with the same patronizing tone as before. "YOU CHILDREN ARE MAKING ME LOSE MY PATIENCE. YOU PRETEND TO KNOCK ME DOWN A PEG? THEN YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW INSIGNIFICANT THAT PROSPECT IS!" Even as it says those words, its eyes start glowing a malicious red light, before it flashes once with a deep and menacing frown. I am suddenly overcome with a strange sensation, as if the energy was being seeped out of my muscles. I look around and see several similar reactions to mine, while the Shadow chuckles to itself, somehow having grown both in height and width

"Are. You. Serious?!" I hear Yang scream. "I don't know what it did, but that is sooo cheating!"

"Yang, calm down," I tell her at the same time I change to another persona, intent on healing her. "We need to keep our heads cool."

"She's right!" Ren exclaims "It is cheating. That means it is getting desperate."

"Great. So it'll play dirty to kill us faster." Jaune complains.

"Yes, but so far, it has only found ways to weaken or cripple us in some ways, that we can adapt to," he explains calmly. "We only have to keep making up for whatever it throws us."

I feel a smirk creeping onto my lips. I look at the others, to find a bit of confidence returning to them. "Very well, we have our plan. Let's cut this tree down."

As the fight resumes, we press on our attack on the Shadow, hitting it with lightning, wind, multicolored mind-beams, kicks, and punches, while also taking turns to boost up our strength, speed or defense, as well as restoring our health and curing us whenever any of the Shadow's attack has any side effect on us. Slowly but surely, we manage to push it to the ropes. A lightning attack from Jaune later and it's trunk starts bending and groaning at a dangerous angle.

"AAGH! YOU IMMATURE CHILDREN. YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF MY WORK!"

Even though I know there's no point to it, I respond to it. "What you can't understand is that you feel yourself tall and mighty, but when it comes to being part of a family, you're the lowest of the low."

"STAY THAT TONGUE!" It snarls again as it spits a single ice spike at me, which I easily dodge.

"I think we're done now," I say with a scowl, as I change Personas. "Ose!" A man-shaped leopard wearing a green cape and white trousers materializes in the battlefield, wielding a pair of twin swords in each hand. He lunges forward, swords at the ready, before it starts swinging relentlessly at the base of the trunk, slowly chipping it away until there's a significant wedge missing from it. Then, with a powerful growl, Ose swings both blades all the way across the Shadow, cleaving the trunk off its feet.

"NOOO! I CANNOT FALL! STOP IT! HEEEEEEELP!" It desperately screams and cries even as it starts falling by its own weight. With a deafening crash, the tree trunk hits the ground, scattering dirt, leaves and dust everywhere in the air. After the cloud clears up, we see the lifeless tree start to wilt and disintegrate in black specks.

In the silence that followed, a sudden sound startles all of us. "Dammit!" Yang curses. "I missed my chance to yell 'timber'!"

"Uh… not to be rude, but I doubt any of us would've heard it." Jaune counters, prompting Yang to nod in agreement before catching him in an armlock and imparting a noogie on him "Ow! Hey, cut it out!" He complains while she laughs and Ren simply watches in calm amusement.

I shake my head and roll my eyes before I walk up to check on Weiss. She had remained very quiet throughout the entire battle, and thank goodness nothing bad happened to her in the meantime. I crouch next to her and offer a hand. "Are you okay?" Though if I had to guess, she is not. She's holding her arms together while sitting on the floor with her legs to the side, eyes set on the ground with a mixture of a grimace and a scowl. Thankfully, she's still on one piece.

She swipes her bangs aside and perks up a little. "Yes, thanks." She answers while taking my hand, but her movements feel rigid and deliberate, and her voice sounds cold, as if forcing the words out without betraying the turmoil of emotions she must be feeling. "You… killed that thing," She points out. "Does that mean that he…?"

"I wouldn't think so," Ren quickly interjects. "The Shadow was taking after your mental image of him, though it did not have any connection to your Father, so he must be perfectly fine in the real world."

Weiss lets out a quiet sigh. "Good," she says in the same cold monotone, as if making any sort of effort would make her fall over from exhaustion. "I wanna leave…" after a bit of hesitation, she adds. "Please?"

I smile sympathetically, putting a hand on her shoulder that she doesn't acknowledge. "Yeah, lets go."

As soon as I said those words, a loud sound breaks through the silence like a broken plate, startling every one of us. It is quickly followed by another, and then another, coming quicker and quicker and turning from an invading noise to a loud applause. We all turn to the same direction and find the source of this clapping. A man is standing a few meters away from us, applauding vigorously as if spectating a performance. "Haha, Bravo! Wonderful! Well done, well done!" He says as he approaches, followed close by another small figure which we soon realize is that strange girl.

The man is wearing a white tailcoat lined in dark red fabric, draped over an ash grey vest and a dirty cravat tucked around his collar. He's also wearing dark dress pants and shoes, black studded gloves over his hands and a black bowler hat sitting on his orange head, which is swept over one of his dark green eyes. He takes up a cane he had hooked on his elbow after he's done clapping, and regards us with a bow. "Excellent work, kiddos. Excellent work indeed."

We all stand in silence as the man goes on, keeping our guards up while Weiss just stares at those people in confusion. "You know, I didn't actually believe it when I heard what you kids were capable of, so I had to see the show with my own eyes. And my goodness did it not disappoint!"

"Who are you?" Yang asks cuttingly. The man starts slowly pacing left and right before resuming.

"Well, your manners need a little work, Goldie. That's bad PR, you know? But I'm not exactly the one to talk, I suppose." The strange person points out before stopping and leaning on his cane. "As much as I'd like an encore, however, I am afraid we need to cancel your little production."

"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to sound as commanding as possible.

"I am glad you asked!" The man says, his voice adopting a sinister tone. "You see, for as entertaining as everything was, you kids have disturbed our schedule by saving that girl over there," He says, the girl on his side smiling widely. "So, we came to finish the job."

"What?!" Weiss asks, apparently back onto her usual self.

"I know, I know. Awful, terrible, unfair. Trust me, I don't like it either, but business is business," the man explains while taking a cigar and lighting it. "Now, please step aside so we can end this quickly."

Weiss' eyes shoot wide open and starts stepping back, but I step in front of her. "There's no way we're letting you kill her!" I say as everybody else stand beside me.

The man sighs and shakes his head. "Listen, there's no need for things to get messy," None of us backs down, only making him sigh harder. "Well, we were expecting something this might happen. Neo," he calls, addressing the girl next to him. "If you would."

She smiles cutely before slowly walking towards us, watching us with an eerily serene gaze while gracefully closing her parasol. "Does she mean to fight us directly?" Yang asks, with a look that's both eager and unsure.

"Looks like it." I say.

Jaune shifts uncomfortably, lowering his sword to the ground. "Man, this blows," he points at her with an open his hand. "I don't wanna hurt a little gi~"

"Watch out!" Ren yells all too late, as a knife embeds itself into Jaune's open hand. All five of us stare at it for a second, Jaune starts screaming like a girl while the rest of us turn our gazes at his assailant. She is frozen in a throwing position, before composing herself and crossing her arms in an adorable pout, tapping the floor with one foot.

"I don't think she liked you calling her little." Weiss comments, cautiously watching from behind us.

Jaune whimpers a little as he pulls the knife off his hand, checking that it isn't bleeding too badly before growling towards the girl "Good, because I'll freaking kill that tiny witch!"

"Neo" scowls more at this, before adopting an unsettling smile and slightly pulling down her left sleeve, revealing something under it: A black wristband, with a reflective surface the size of a coin in it.

"Is that a…?"

"An Evoker!"

"Then she is…!"

Before we could react, red light pours from her wrist and trails down to the floor like a stream blood before taking a quick bow, splashing specks of crimson crystals everywhere. The light swirls all around her body before coalescing in the air in front of her, turning into… something that resembles a human body. It sits limply on a dress cage tied around its waist, covered in streams and tatters of white and red fabric that barely do anything to hide the legs dangling inside of it, barely reaching the floor. Its torso is dressed in a white chemise, covering its definitively feminine features, with a similarly white bodice draped over it with tattered sleeves that only reach the elbow of both arms, which hang lifelessly as its body leans to the left.

However, what is most prominent -and unsettling- about the creature's appearance is the glass. Shards of silver colored glass is embedded all around its body, arms and legs, cutting holes on whatever clothes it has and surrounded with red stains. A particularly large piece of glass is lodged right in the middle of its face, at an angle that completely hides half of it, while the other half is hidden by a curtain of brown, flowing hair. The Persona's body jaunts 270 degrees on its waist until it is hanging backwards before snapping forwards, releasing an inhuman wail, that resonates through all of us.

"Wh- wha- what the fuck is that thing?!" Jaune stutters, losing its previous bravado.

"She's a Persona user. A powerful one, apparently!" Ren says. "We need to gather ourselves and fight back." He explains with dread in his voice.

I nod and swipe my hand over my Evoker, but I don't feel anything changing. I try again only to get the same result. "Come on… not this again." I mutter.

"Is everything okay?" Yang asks while glancing over.

"My Personas are blocked… just like that one time!" I inform with a tinge of panic in my voice.

"That isn't good." Ren responds.

I turn to look at the girl who is simply smiling while resting her parasol on her shoulder. "Well, I can still hurt her!" I twirl my weapon and run forward, preparing to swing it at her. I swipe my glaive left, but she dodges backward, standing on her hands and taking her momentum to kick her feet -and my glaive- up before she makes several backflips away from me. "Okay, you're fast."

"Then we need to be faster. Persona!" Ren summons Yoshitsune, who conjures a column of green light around me, making me feel lighter as a blur surrounds my body.

Jaune steps up. "Persona… huh?" He babbles as Setanta fails to appear. "Okay, let's do this the boring way," He says before running while yelling: "It suits me better anyway!" He raises his sword and brings it down over Neo, who dodged the attack once again. This time however, she hooks Jaune's foot on the handle of her parasol and trips him to the ground.

"PERSONA!" Yang yells, followed by a fire-stream from Sati's hands, which the girl against any logic manages to evade and lean away from the assault until she stands a few ways ahead of us. She bows again, and her Persona appears right on my face without warning. I stare at half of my own reflection next to an empty eye socket for a single second before its face is replaced by a fist closing in to my face. A flash and a pang of pain later, I land on the floor, curling in pain and nursing my broken nose. I look up to see the nightmarish creature ram a set of elongated fingernails into Jaune's leg, making him scream as he lays on the floor.

The Persona disappears as I stand up, wiping away my bloody nose before I rush back at her, trying as best as I can to hit her. My attacks are quick and precise, yet she dances around each and every one of my swings, smiling all the while before she leaps upward, does a somersault and lands behind me, only to land a kick so hard that it'd have broken my spine if I wasn't wearing armor.

Ren goes check on Jaune, who is clutching his leg in pain, before he turns his attention to Yang and increases her speed too. "So, you like dancing? Then let's dance!" She projects herself forward, almost flying across the ground as she assaults Neo with a flurry of punches. With unnatural ease, she avoids and evades any of her fists to hit her only once. With a sleight of a hand, she opens her parasol so suddenly that it almost throws Yang off balance, before she swings a knife at her. My breath catches in my throat as Yang parries the blade on an arm-guard before she jumps away from Neo.

A moment later, the Persona appears again, the cage of its dress "glowing" with a black and red aura before projecting whips of dark energy that extend and make a beeline towards all four of us, hitting all of us in our chests and flinging us away. As I land, I look up to see Weiss, frozen in fear and looking at Neo, who is slowly making her way towards her. I jump onto my feet and stand in front of Weiss, holding my weapon in front of me in a defensive stance. Jaune comes up and stands next to me, walking away from a column of green light that Ren conjured, and adopts a similar pose as mine. Somewhere, Yang lets out a scream as her Persona flies across the field, the gem in her circlet and eyes glowing red, as she rears back a fist and punches forward at the speed of sound.

There's a loud crash as Sati's fist hits the ground, throwing dirt and dust to the air before a shockwave disperses everything away to reveal the devastation caused by the attack, with dirt and stone tiles displaced away by a crater right in the middle of what used to be a courtyard. However, to everyone's shock and horror, Neo is found standing on the edge of the crater, not a single hair out of place. She looks back at the hole in mild annoyance before she summons her Persona again, creating four shards of ice crystal that it then shoots to all of us. I brace it as best as I can the moment it connects to the shaft of my glaive while Ren and Jaune dodge the attack the best they can and Yang simply punches the ice shard in the air as it approaches her. After that, they both reconvene to where Jaune and I are standing.

"Guys, this girl is freaking the hell out of me." Jaune comments, failing to hide the trembling in his voice.

At that moment, the sensation of a chain snapping resounds inside my head, and I feel all of my Personas returning at once. I move to change to another Persona before stopping and thinking about the situation. This fight has been completely one-sided so far, not to mention that she's merciless. There's also the fact that with the man standing nearby, we can't just distract Neo while letting Weiss make a run for it. No matter how you look at it, we're cornered.

"You kids are only making things more difficult for you, you know?" The man from earlier calls, walking around the sidelines. "Why can't you just be reasonable and let us finish our job so that we can all leave early?"

"Why do you want to kill Weiss so much anyway?!" I yell while keeping an eye on Neo, who is silently doing the same as she listens to her partner. "What has she done to you?"

"It's not what she has done, it's what she could do!" He explains while pointing at the dead, broken tree behind us. "You heard the old man, she's already being raised up to become another magnanimous stockholder of a company that only cares about lifting themselves above the rest!" He then shakes his head as in lamenting the thought. "Honestly, this world doesn't need that kind of decadence."

"So… you're judging her for something she might very well never do?!" I ask, surprise and indignation seeping onto my voice. "You must be joking."

"I wish I was, and I'll admit that our case isn't really strong. But, those are the circumstances."

"So you only have that half-assed excuse for wanting to kill her?!" Yang asks in anger. "Jeez, you people are just cowards!"

"They… are not wrong, though." Comes a whisper from behind us.

"For the longest time, I have never protested against my Father or managed to stand on my own. I always complied, adapting into whatever it was needed." Weiss says sadly, eyes downcast and playing with a strand of hair. Her eyebrows furrow. "Even when he is not present, I act however I think he would want me to. I always feel him behind my back, holding a leash and ready to pull back at anything that he'd disapprove," she says as she balls her hands into fists. "I am the coward."

"Weiss…"

"There's no shame in admitting your shortcomings, sweethea-"

"Quiet!" Weiss cuts him almost instantly. "That does not mean that I am content with things being like that! Honestly, I am sick of it of never speaking my mind all these years!" She exclaims, glaring past us towards the two individuals. "I shouldn't tolerate this anymore, having to keep quiet and simply accept what other people people expect from me!"

She looks at me, and I hold her gaze for a moment as she keeps talking "I should not… I can not and will not let others talk me into what they want!" She turns her glare back at the two of them, as she pushes through us and stands in front of us. "You want to kill me? Then I guess I want to make it as hard as I possibly can!

"Persona!"

A column of light erupts from all around her, illuminating every corner of the garden before dying out, leaving several specks of white dust floating in the air. Slowly, each speck begin gathering into an afterimage of Weiss that had emerged above her head, weaving and adding into its body before turning into a new Persona. She resembles a woman wearing a flowing, bluish-white dress that neatly hugs her body and that falls down to reach her ankles. It has a cut on its right side of the skirt going up to her hip, and a single sleeve covering her left arm. She also has a snow white sash tied over her left shoulder with a snowflake-shaped brooch on it, and is wearing a tiara of long and thin icicles, keeping her long, white hair away from her face, which is wearing a white theatre mask covering the left side of her face. This last detail helps me notice that, while the skin on the right side of her body is a perfect ivory, the left side -the one showing less skin- is completely black.

The Persona opens one icy blue eye, as snowflake-shaped sigils appear floating on her back and around each of her wrists and ankles in an ever-changing cycle of shapes and patterns. A second after, she swipes her right hand across her, sending a blizzard of her own towards Neo, who simple stands there as the icy wind just blows away and around her, while covering everything else in a thin layer of snow.

"Well… that's a surprise." The man says before giving Neo a side glance, who nods once before summoning her Persona again, threatening to punch me again. However, Yang steps in the way and crosses her arms in front of her, taking the brunt of the strike while managing to stand on her feet.

"Not if I can help it, little bitch." I hear her growling before I switch to Nigi Mitama, making it shower us with healing light. I wince a little as my nose tries and fails to heal itself, earning a side glance from Weiss, who humphs as she brings her left hand next to her face, sporting an icy blue Evoker around her wrist.

"If that's the best you can do, then I feel you'll appreciate my assistance. Khioné." She calls by wiping her hand right in front of her, the ice woman appearing before us in a flash of blue light and sending rings of white, glowing light to descend around us. A second after, my nose stops hurting; I look around at the others to see that their own injuries have also healed significantly.

Ren steps up next, calling Yoshitsune again and having him shoot his multicolored ring-beam at Neo. Unsurprisingly, she dodges it once again. However, she steps on a puddle of water that dripped from a broken fountain, prompting her to stab the floor with her parasol as she almost trips, before stepping clear from it. Jaune then follows with a lightning attack, that just nearly misses her before jumping away from Sati's one-two attack. She calls again her Persona, which lets out another bone-chilling scream. This time however, I still feel my connection to my Personas unsevered.

"Guys, I have an idea, I think," I say before turning to everyone else. "First, does anyone have your Personas blocked?" Everybody checks on their Evokers, as well as myself. Yang's, Weiss' and my Evoker emit a faint blue light from its reflective token, while Ren's and Jaune's remain the same.

"Crap, not again." Jaune says.

"Whatever that power is, it affected me this time too. Sorry."

"It's okay," I say. "Listen. Yang, you and I are gonna create water once again," I instruct, earning a smirk and a nod from Yang. "Weiss, I'll ask you to freeze that water immediately after. Think you can do it?"

She closes her eyes and smiles "Hmm, can I?"

"Is… is that a yes?" I ask sheepishly, making Weiss groan in annoyance.

"Yes! How difficult can that be?!"

"O-okay! Let's do it! NIGI MITAMA!"

"SATI!"

"KHIONÉ!"

As the three Personas appear at once, Nigi Mitama blows a hailstorm throughout the entire battlefield that Neo of course isn't bothered by. However, Sati follows up by sending a heatwave that melts the ice into water, which falls down and soaks the entire ground. Next, Weiss Persona descends onto the ground, her feet freezing all the water at a frightening speed the moment she touches it.

"Check!" I claim with a triumphant fistpump.

"I don't get it," Yang counters though. "All of that only froze the floor."

"Yeah, and unless she can fly somehow, she can't dodge the floor!" I counter while looking at Neo, who was eyeing her surroundings completely frazzled.

"So now she won't be able to dodge our attacks," Weiss summarizes. "Ha! quite the brilliant move, I must say."

"Oh… ohohoho!" Yang giggles as she realizes it too, which then turns into a concerning dark laugh as she takes something out of her pocket. "Hey Ren."

"Hm, yes?" He answers as Yang hands him the jumbo-cracker.

"Give me a good throw." She says while smiling from ear to ear. Ren takes the firework without so much as a blink and does as asked, throwing the explosive in an arch trained at Neo's position. She realizes it and tries to scamper away from it without falling onto her butt.

"Wait… It isn't lit!" Jaune says in alarm, followed by a flash of blue light and Sati kneeling besides Yang, aiming at the firecracker before letting out a single fireball. The explosive and the fiery projectile land on the floor next to Neo at the same time, exploding in a blinding flash and sending her off the ground, landing hard on the ice covered floor.

"She's down," Weiss says calmly. "Time for checkmate."

There's a bang, followed a ball of light and noise that lands in the middle of the battlefield, making a huge explosion that bursts in every direction. "Very well, that's enough!" The man screams over the ringing in our ears. After the smoke clears, we see him helping Neo up before turning to us. "Congrats kids. You all get to live another day."

I feel my brain gears coming to a dead stop after hearing this, and I can only muster a silly "Whaa?"

Yang is the next one to speak. "Heh, guess you got scared we would hurt your little girlfriend."

"One, that's none of your business, and two, this is actually part of my business."

"What do you mean?" Ren asks in a commanding tone.

"I'll just say… that the circumstances have changed."

Weiss on her part stares the man down. "You seriously think I'll just let you walk away from this?"

"Princess, honestly, it's not your decision." He says almost boringly. "Just make sure you don't interfere with my business again, okay? Neo, get us out of here." He says while putting his cigar away.

Neo simply nods with a sweet smile before doing… something that surrounds both her and her partner in a ball of golden light. In less than a second, the ball shatters into dust to reveal that the two of them have disappeared. I stare at the spot those two were standing before I'm literally shaken out of my daze.

"Hello? Reflection to Ruby, do you copy?" Yang asks while taking hold of my shoulder and shaking me up, before I pull away.

"Hey, knock it out!"

"What? You were in shut down for almost a minute."

"It's only been three seconds." Weiss quickly corrects, before dropping to her knees.

"Whoah. Are you okay?" Yang asks as she crouches next to her.

"Yes I'm…" She trails off, her eyelids drooping slightly. "I wouldn't mind sleeping for a few minutes, though."

"I agree," Ren says while sheathing his weapons, looking exhausted himself. "We should all go to our homes. It's been a lot for just one day."

"Yeah, this took us way longer than I expected," I say as I stifle the need to yawn before looking at. "But, we need to think of where to take you."

"I have no problem calling someone to pick me up." Weiss mutters, struggling to keep her head up.

"No way. You need to rest ASAP. No argument." Yang says. Weiss quickly relents, clearly too tired to complain any more. Without anything else to say, I help Weiss up to her feet and we all start our way back to the real world.

Well, all of us except for Jaune, who remains standing in stunned silence. "Did seriously nobody notice that the man shot that fireball from his cane?"

Saturday, June 24th/ Evening.

After a quick discussion, it is decided that Weiss will be coming with us and stay in our home for the night. With that decided, Jaune and Ren head home while Yang, Weiss and myself head for the bus stop, making sure to escort a sleepy girl in a nightgown and a robe as discreetly as possible. We do get a funny look here and there, but nothing escalates

Finally reaching the neighborhood, we make the walk back to our home on a brisk pace. The sun had already set when we make it to the front door. We open it to find Dad, standing in the middle of the living room with a phone in his hand and a frown on his face. He doesn't look very happy.

"Well, I hope you know the time it is." He says in a tone that attempted to sound upset, but that keeps showing more concern than anything. Yet, it made me feel my blood turning cold over guilt. "I was just five minutes away from calling the cops to look for you. The cops! Your phones didn't even rang, for crying out loud! Do you have any idea of how worried sick I was that something bad might have happened to you?!" He says while pacing madly around the living room before stopping in front of us. "So? What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"I…" Shoot, I didn't even think about Dad on our way back. I dare a glance to Yang, who seems just as much in a loss as I am.

We are fu~

"It's my fault, sir." Weiss interjects lucidly, slowly walking around us and to our Dad, who only now seems to take note of her. "Weiss Schnee, I'm pleased to meet you. Your daughters have been helping me to deal with some… emotional issues I have been having recently.

"You see, I got away from my caretaker when he took me to the park while I was recovering from a cold, which explains my state of underdress." She explains, prompting Dad to politely avert his gaze. "I have been going through a rough spot lately, and I lost control of my emotions for a moment. Luckily, those two and their friends found me and helped me manage these matters. If they had not, I don't know what would have happened to me."

Dad listens to her and mulls over her words. "What about their phones?" He quickly asks, though.

"I asked them not to, but they all shut their cell phones off to listen to me, to which I am very grateful in the end." She then holds her hands together and takes polite bow. "So please do not be angry with then, and accept my apologies."

Dad crosses his arms while staring at Weiss, sizing her up while mulling over her words. He then look at the two of us, and I do my best effort not to flinch. However, he sighs. "Well, I suppose that you also need where to stay for the night, correct?" He asks Weiss.

She straightens up, almost losing her bearings. "If it is too much trouble, I can always make a call-"

"Eeeeh, forget about it. You can stay here as much as you need. Please come in," Dad offers amicably while checking his wristwatch. "Well, I guess y'all wanna eat something about now. What about pizza?" He suggests while bringing up the phone, still clutched in his hand.

"I…" Weiss starts before a loud creature growls from inside her abdomen. With a blush, she asks sheepishly. "Can it be a diet one?"

After understanding what she means by a "diet pizza", dad places the order for two dishes while Yang and I help Weiss up to the second floor. I gather one of my sets of pajamas and give it to her so that she can change after taking a bath. After she's done, Yang takes her other clothes to the laundry-room while Weiss sits in the living room. Meanwhile, I help set paper plates and napkins around the living room table while we wait for the food to arrive. Not five minutes after that, the doorbell rings and my Dad and I go get the pizzas and set the cardboard boxes on the table and open them.

First is the "diet" pizza, made on thin crust bread and covered in white pizza sauce, with goat cheese, peppers, sweet-corn, black olives and shredded chicken -at Yang's behest-, garnished in olive oil. Meanwhile, the second pizza has stuffed crust with tomato sauce, sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella, anchovies and a handful of red peppers spread over it. Weiss stares at the two boxes with doubtful eyes as we all sit around the table to have dinner. Dad takes the pizza-cutter and divides both pizzas in half, so that everybody will at least have half a pizza each. Weiss takes her first slice and takes a dainty bite out of it, after which she begins eating with gusto, much to Dad's delight.

After that, Yang and Dad clean up in the living room while I help Weiss back upstairs. "You can take my bed," I tell her. "We have sleeping bags, so don't worry about it."

"I appreciate it." Weiss says. Once in my room, I pick some pajamas for myself while Weiss gets into my bed, quickly and soundly falling asleep. I head to the bathroom to get changed, go downstairs to get the sleeping bag and give my goodnights before going back in my room. I wrap myself inside the bag at the foot of my bed, looking back at Weiss snoring form and then at my nightstand, where the picture of my Mom is sitting as always.

As I slowly drift into the sleeping realm, I mutter. "Good night Mom… good night Weiss."

03 Days until the anniversary of N. Schnee's death.

The strength of the heart to face one's fears has been made manifest. Weiss Schnee has earned the facade to face life's hardships. The Persona Khioné.

Arcanalysis:
Yoshitsune (Hermit):
Resists: Mind.
Weak: Electricity, Light.
Big Slice - Patra
Psyo
Hassou Tobi
Sukukaja

Khioné (Hanged Man):
Resists: Ice, Electricity.
Weak: Fire.
Mabufu
Bufula
Mediarama
Masukukaja

Ose (Fool):
Resists: Darkness.
Weak: Light.
Fatal End, Mighty Swing, Matarukaja, Counter, Mazio.
Marchosias (Magician):
Resists: Fire.
Weak: Wind.
Maragi, Mafrei, Double Fangs, Evil Touch, Herculean Strike.
Oberon (Emperor):
Resists: Fire
Blocks: Electricity.
Weak: Wind, Nuclear.
Media, Zio, Tarukaja, Mazio, Pulimpa.
Mithra (Hierophant):
Blocks: Ice, Light.
Weak: Electricity.
Skull Cracker, Media, Kouha, Mapsy, Mind-Break.
Nigi Mitama (Temperance):
Reflects: Light, Darkness.
Weak: Electricity.
Mabufu, Diarama, Makouha, Media, Amrita Drop.

SYNERGY CHAIN:
Deep Freeze (Ice Skill (area) Fire Skill (area) Ice Skill (area)):
Increased Ice Damage on all enemies + Decreases Hit/Evasion on all enemies

Wild Drive (Chariot):
Resists: Physical
Weak: Electricity
Slash Attack, Tarukaja, Kill Rush
Scarlet Turret (Chariot):
Resists: Fire
Blocks: Physical
Weak: Electricity
Strike Attack, Rakunda, Agilao, Maragion

Oppressive Trent (Hanged Man):
Resists: Physical
Blocks: Fire.
Absorbs: Darkness.
Eiga - Mabufula
Bufula - Stagnant Air
Life Drain - Poisma
Evil Touch - Patronizing Glare

Mary (Death):
Blocks: Ice
Tentarafoo - Lucky Punch
Cruel Attack
Maeiga
Mabufula
(Neopolitan: Pierce Attack)

A/N: Phew! What a hike, huh?

So regarding the two-part break? Do you prefer this, or do you want me to keep the chapters as one single unit, regardless of lenght? Please let me know through PM what do you guys want.

I have no idea when I will sit down and write the next chapter. But if this chapter serves as anything, is proof that I will not stop working on it. Rest assured ;D