"You seem to be adjusting well, Panther." Morgana noted with a smile.
"Thanks, Mona! Although…" Ann began as her eyes drifted over towards Ren and Shiho, who were in the midst of laughing maniacally while finishing off the Shadows they were focused on.
"Eh, I wouldn't bother. You should have seen Joker the first time we came in here. Total demonic grin." Ryuji laughed. "I'd be worried if he wasn't on our side."
"Dove is a surprise though…" Morgana whispered in fear as he watched the girl in question brutally drive her spear through the head of the Shadow she was fighting.
"Not really? She's always been tough." Ann said with a confused tilt of her head.
"Nah, I think it's because that Shadow was a bipedal cat in boots." Ryuji corrected.
---
The group continued through the castle bit by bit. They could feel themselves become stronger as they fought, lending credence to the RPG theory they were building. After their latest fight, everyone but Morgana froze for a second.
"Woah. I learned a new skill?" Ryuji yelled in shock.
"Me too!" Shiho confirmed. "Mine is called Headbutt? Fairly obvious what that is..."
"Taru-kaja…?" Ryuji attempted to pronounce.
"Gesundheit." Ren said automatically.
"No, that's the name of a skill," Morgana sighed. "It's a buff skill that temporarily boosts the attack of the target. If he cast it on one of us, we might get two or three stronger attacks before it fades."
"Didn't the Kelpie use something like that when Joker first used Pixie?" Shiho asked.
"Yeah, that spell increased its speed or something, maybe?" Ren continued.
"Totally an RPG!" Ryuji declared.
"Guess our homework for the Metaverse is to play video games?" Ann sighed.
"Innocent Sin Online is a free mobile game!" Ryuji advertised.
"Loot boxes though." Ren cut in mercilessly.
"It is a bit unsettling how quickly we are learning to fight…" Ann muttered in discomfort.
'Worry not. The Metaverse itself is not hostile to you. Think of it as… assisted learning.' Carmen reassured her other self.
"Really? I like it. It feels natural." Shiho thought aloud with her hand to her chin.
"You and Joker are scary when you fight." Ryuji flat out admitted.
Ann nodded slightly.
"So are you! Everyone in this group is scary when they fight!" Ryuji continued as he remembered the blonde's direct threat to Kamoshida's Shadow.
"Yeah, but Dove and I are hot, so you'll deal with it." Ann said with a smirk as Shiho stuck out her tongue with a wink while throwing up a peace sign.
---
The group surrounded the Shadows they were fighting, holding them up at gunpoint. The floating pumpkin Shadow slowly floated forward as if acting as spokesman for the others.
"Hee ho, you guys are tough!" the pumpkin said. "What can I do to make you let us go, ho?"
"This one seems childish, you should be able to get something from it if you ask it right." Morgana muttered to Ren quietly.
Letting his mind wander briefly, Ren heard the giggle of Pixie momentarily before she stopped herself.
"Lend me your power." Ren directly asked the Shadow. Perhaps he could take this one as a Persona as well.
"Well, you sure are tough, ho!" the pumpkin continued. "Plus you have a kitty in your group!"
The pumpkin bounced around as it thought.
"But why are the princess and the bunny with you guys? The king wanted us to hunt you! Hee ho! What did you do?"
At the mention of the nicknames, Shiho tightened her grip on her spear. Ann clenched her teeth and scowled.
"The King is a bad man. He wants to take us away from our friends." Ren decided to be honest. "We could use your strength to make sure everyone stays safe."
"A bad man? But the king is the king, he made it so I don't have to wander anymore, ho!"
Ren was stumped. Maybe this was a part of the myth behind this floating pumpkin?
"I'll go with him then." A silky voice came from behind the pumpkin as a ghostly maid approached gently.
"Are you sure? I won't force anyone to do anything." Ren directly announced.
"Oh, how sweet. I wish my master was like you— Oh wait! I'm not a maid in this castle! My name is Silky! I will protect the Trickster!" the maid suddenly said.
"Huh? Trickster?" the pumpkin began before seemingly being enlightened. "Trickster!!!"
The two Shadows burst into flames, transforming into familiar birdlike domino masks before merging with the mask upon Ren's face.
"It's messy in here!" Silky's voice rang from within his mind. "I must clean!"
"Pixie! It's Pixie! Hi Pixie! Hee ho hee!"
"Teehee, you invited more fae? You are a brave one, Trickster."
Morgana was silent for a moment.
"He really can hold multiple Personas…"
"Is it that strange?" Ann asked.
'Very.' Everyone's Persona responded to her within their users' heads.
---
Coming across a safe room, the team decided to rest. As everyone was settling in, Ren tossed his bag onto the center table with a nod, causing the group to swarm it like starving animals finding an oasis. Drinking their sodas and eating snacks, the group could hear a sigh of contentment come from Morgana, who had decided to sit on a high-up shelf granting him a view of the entire room.
Ignoring the argument between Ryuji and Morgana about whether Morgana was actually a cat or not, Ren looked at the map on his phone. They had explored a large chunk of the castle, but not nearly all of it.
"Looks like we have a few more places to check out before we move on…" Ren said, snapping the group to attention. "Take a look."
Putting the phone down, Shiho and Ann scowled briefly as their eyes both darted to where one would assume the gymnasium was. Catching this, Ryuji asked,
"Do ya think the Treasure would be in the gym?"
"Not likely." Morgana said.
"Why not? Isn't that where his 'seat of power' would be?" Ren asked curiously.
"Yeah, but what about all this?" Morgana responded as he pointed at the large tower on the map that was entirely unexplored.
"It looks like we have to cut through the gym anyways to get over there." Shiho said through gritted teeth.
"If it's not the gym, where could the Treasure be?" Ryuji asked no one in particular.
"Somewhere in the building where he feels untouchable." Ann reasoned coldly.
"There." Morgana, Ren, Shiho, and Ann all pointed at a particular location on the unmapped tower.
"And how did you figure that out?" Ryuji asked deadpan.
"Logic," the four answered in unison.
Picking his phone back up, Ren noticed that a new fast travel button had appeared only when he alone was touching the phone.
THE VELVET ROOM.
---