April 16th, 2012, Velvet Room, Morning.
The Velvet Room existed in its perpetual, twilight blue state, a pocket dimension untouched by the rising sun of the waking world.
Yet, within its elegant confines, the familiar rituals of morning persisted. Makoto Yuki and Elizabeth sat at one of the small, ornate tables, sharing a quiet breakfast. The scent of brewing tea and freshly toasted bread mingled with the room's ever-present, faint aroma of 'music.'
Makoto was methodically eating a slice of bread spread with a vibrant red jam when the grand clock hanging on the wall began to chime, its deep, resonant tones marking the seventh hour.
Elizabeth looked up from her cup of tea, her lilac eyes following the slow sweep of the clock's hands before they settled on her guest. "Makoto," she began, her tone unusually serious. "If you require my assistance today, I fear I will be unavailable until tonight."
Makoto paused, his slice of bread halfway to his mouth. "Why's that?" he asked, his voice calm.
"I'm going to Hell," she stated, as if announcing a trip to the market. She took a delicate sip of tea. "Would you like to come too?"
"Hell?" Makoto repeated, a faint note of confusion in his otherwise neutral tone. The concept was familiar, yet the casualness of her proposition was not.
"Yes, well, not the realm where damned souls are tormented for eternity—obviously," she clarified, waving a hand dismissively. "That is such a simplistic and dreary concept. Souls journey to many different realms of the dead, their destination shaped by the lives they led and the beliefs they held. Still, some vestiges, some echoes, invariably find their way into this world's Sea of Souls."
She explained it with the air of a docent describing a museum exhibit, her head tilted slightly.
Makoto considered this, then gave a slow, understanding nod. "I have a club meeting today, Liz. I'm sorry," he declined. His life, even with the fate of the universe on his shoulders, still included the mundane commitments of a high school student.
"Oh, that's quite all right," Elizabeth said, her smile returning. "It is probably for the best. Our devil friends and the Councillor are in agreement that it is wiser to keep your identity as secret as possible for now. Your presence in the Underworld, even as an observer, could stir up… unnecessary political complications."
A slight frown touched Makoto's lips at the mention of being hidden away, but he accepted the logic with a silent nod. Secrecy was a burden he was long accustomed to carrying.
Once Makoto, followed by Ryoji, had departed through the door that led back to Kuoh, the atmosphere in the Velvet Room shifted. The quiet was now profound, broken only by the soft ticking of the clock.
Elizabeth rose from her seat and walked over to the main counter, upon which rested the massive, leather-bound tome known as the Persona Compendium. She placed her hands on its cover, feeling the faint thrum of power within.
'How does Makoto do it?' she wondered, not for the first time. The sheer weight of the connections, the myriad voices and wills contained within this book, was a symphony he conducted with such effortless focus.
She opened the compendium, its pages rustling as they turned of their own accord before settling on one bathed in a soft, ethereal light. The illustration depicted a thief god adorned with a winged helmet and sandals, holding a staff entwined by two serpents.
She let her fingers rest on the page. "Oh, God of Travelers," she intoned, her voice clear and formal in the silent room. "I demand thee your precious help."
The page glowed brighter, and a voice, light, quick, and brimming with intelligent energy, seemed to emanate from the very paper.
"Oh, Attendant! What a pleasure to hear your voice. Say, how can my peculiar skills be of service to you?" asked the respectful yet eager voice of Mercurius.
"I would like to make the most of The Wanderer's power," Elizabeth stated. "I wish to journey to the Underworld, as it is known in this world." She waited patiently, her expression serene.
"Oh, I would simply love to taste the air of a new world!" Mercurius replied, his excitement barely contained. "Unfortunately, the Universe has not yet required my assistance... though that time will surely come, obviously. It would be my pleasure to guide you, Attendant. However," his tone shifted, becoming slightly more serious, "I have two conditions."
"What are they?" Elizabeth asked. She was already moving toward the large door that stood as a gateway to Tartarus, her destination point for this journey.
"First, and most importantly, I require the blessing of the Universe himself. His will is the source of our covenant, after all." The persona's voice was firm on this point. "Secondly, my personal condition: I wish to visit this Underworld as well. Merely acting as a conduit holds little interest for me. I am a traveler, not a carriage."
Elizabeth nodded, accepting the terms without hesitation. "Agreed." She produced a cellular phone from within the folds of her blue dress—a modern anomaly in the timeless room—and dialed a number she knew by heart.
In the waking world, Makoto was just passing through the gates of Kuoh Academy. The morning sun was warm on his back, and the school grounds were filling with students. Yuuto Kiba, ever chivalrous, had greeted him with a respectful bow and a warm
"Good morning, Senpai." They had exchanged a few words when the ringtone from Makoto's phone cut through their conversation.
"Don't mind me. Please, answer it," Kiba said politely, offering another slight bow before continuing on his way to his homeroom.
Makoto looked at the screen. An unknown number. Yet, he had a suspicion. He answered. "Elizabeth?"
"How ever did you know it was me?" she joked, her voice bright and cheerful through the receiver.
"The only unknown number that has ever called me was you," he replied flatly.
"Ah, yes, true enough," she conceded. "Makoto, may I use The Wanderer?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
"Why are you asking?" The question was simple, a request for information.
"It is merely a formality. Mercurius wishes to have your explicit permission to teleport me. A simple 'yes' will suffice for him to proceed."
Makoto didn't need to ponder. He trusted Elizabeth's judgment implicitly, even when her methods were unorthodox. He hummed in acknowledgment. "Yes."
"Thank you!" The call ended abruptly.
However inside his mind, the voices of his other Personas stirred.
'Are you certain it is safe to allow Mercurius and the Attendant to venture alone?' Kohryu's wise, rumbling voice held a note of suspicion. 'The paths where he may lead her are treacherous, and her curiosity is... boundless.'
'Mercurius is responsible enough to temper the Attendant's more impulsive tendencies,' Orpheus Telos countered, his melodic tone calm and reassuring. 'He is a god of boundaries and communication, after all. He understands the value of caution.'
'Unlike a certain Sun God who would likely try to race the very concept of velocity itself,' Lucifer snorted, his disdain for Apollo's frivolity evident.
'They will be fine,' Makoto thought, his internal voice a bedrock of certainty. His trust was not given lightly, but once given, it was absolute.
Back in the shifting halls of Tartarus, Elizabeth slipped the phone back into her dress. "The terms are met, Mercurius. Shall we depart?"
The air before her shimmered, and the Persona materialized in a flash of blue light. Mercurius hovered above her, his winged sandals and blue attire gleaming, his expression one of keen anticipation.
He held his caduceus aloft, the two serpents entwined around the staff seeming to stir with life. He tapped the staff once on the amorphous floor of Tartarus.
"Welcome to the Mercurius Express!" he announced, his voice playful and brimming with joy. "Please name your desired destination." He was clearly relishing the role.
Elizabeth played along, a small smile gracing her lips. "The Underworld. Thank you."
"To the Underworld it is, then! All aboard!" Mercurius declared. He began to rotate his staff rapidly.
The caduceus glowed with an intense, brilliant light that expanded to envelop both the goddess and the Persona. The air hummed with the power of passage, of boundaries being crossed and roads being forged.
In an instant, the light flashed, consuming them, and when it faded, the room of Tartarus was empty, leaving only silence in their wake.