Chapter 7
"An Explanation, Perhaps?"

Velvet Room

The teens returned to the Velvet Room and Amiko was there, just sitting a little uncomfortably…though that appeared she didn't know what to say to Margaret when she noticed the others.

"Who are these two?" she asked.

But before anyone could answer, Margaret, upon looking at the others put her forehead in her hand and as she shook her head, said, "Hmph, what a mess you've dragged me into…"

"Excuse me?!" Charles said, irritated at that.

Chie was perturbed as well. "Wait, WE dragged YOU into this?"

"No offense, love, but you invited US into here, so if you don't wanna accept responsibility, then just bugger off and fix it!" James said.

Naoto, sensing things were getting too tense, said, "Um, what is this place?"

"It seems this is a haven in the rift…" Margaret said. "A place that exists between dream and reality. IT connects to the world of the collective unconsciousness…"

"So, basically, we're in Cardiff," James said. Then he and Chris high-fived.

Margaret sighed. Then she said, "It must be similar to the TV world you are all familiar with."

"So that's why there are Shadows here and we could summon our Personas," Rise said.

"B-but why are we in such a place?" Yukiko said with discomfort.

"I don't know the reason…but do you remember what I said before? 'Nothing meaningless happens here.'"

"Which means there's a point to us being here," Minako said.

Margaret nodded. "Reality and this haven in the rift connected via the Velvet Room, and you all descended here."

She looked around for a second and said, "It happened by necessity. Indeed, one could call it…fate."

"Fate…" Naoto repeated, lost in thought.

"There is something that you must do here…That is all I know."

"What must we do, Margaret? What happens if we don't do it?" Yu asked.

"I do not know what it is, but unless you accomplishment, there will be no way back to reality," Margaret said.

"In other words…. We won't be able to leave here?" Naoto asked.

"For real?!" Chie asked.

Amiko started tearing up and sobbing,

"Ami-chan!" Teddie said.

"How can you say that?! You brought us here! Now you're saying we can't get home?! I don't believe that! You have to some answer in that big damn book of yours! Find it!" Amiko said.

"Ami," Charles said. "What's wrong?"

"I have a half-sister! I have to take care of her! Dad can do what he can, but he has Autism Spectrum too and what if he has an episode and my sister is all alone and she gets hungry…I don't want to think about it…"

Amiko sobbed.

Teddie popped out of his fur and said, "Ami-chan. It'll be okay. We'll get back and I bet bearly any time has passed will have passed fur your sister without you."

"Arigato, Teddie…" Amiko said, sniffling and then they hugged, Teddie this time minding his hands.

"It'll be okay…" Teddie said.

Margaret gave an apologetic smile. "My apologies, Amiko. I did not know what I said earlier to you had caused a bubbling beneath the surface. I should have."

"It's okay…" Amiko exhaled. "Rome wasn't built in a day…but there is a hope…"

"There is hope in all things," Margaret said. "Despite our current situation, I believe we can leave if the solution is deduced. So for now, we cannot leave."

"Is that why the students are acting so weird?" Yosuke said. "All they say is, 'Yasogami High's Culture Festival is fun,' and 'Let's go to the carnival shooting gallery. It's like, the answers they give me don't match my questions. We can buy what they're selling, though."

"So we're in a tourist trap," Charles said.

"Maybe…" Yosuke chuckled. "Also, I don't see anyone else I know here. I mean, not that I know every single student's face, but there's no way I wouldn't recognize even one person."

"That's right," Siobhan said. "When I was roaming around the Festival, I didn't see Yumi, Daisuke, Kou, Hanako, Ms. Kashiwagi, Hashimoto, Ishimora Sakura, Ai, Kenuchio, Misa, Naoki, Ayane, the principal…"

"Well, at least Ekoda's not here, so we can balance the good with the bad," Minako said.

"Umm…Who are you?" Amiko said to Siobhan.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Siobhan Caitlin Murphy. Pleased to meet you!" Siobhan said, bowing.

Amiko gave a strange smirk. "Aren't you dead? I read a news report when Charles-san was accused of Yukiko-san's kidnapping and the murders and they mentioned you were dead."

"Where did you hear that?" Siobhan said.

"You deny it's true?" Amiko said.

"No, I deny that it was in the news in Inaba."

Amiko looked uncomfortable. "I…uh…I read it online…I…uh…wanted to see what the American Message boards said about you, Charles…You're a very popular target on Social Media there."

"I know… #CTWSUCKS! has 1.5 million follows…" Charles said with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"So…you're dead?" Amiko said, getting back to her original point.

"Well, yes and no, Amiko-san. My body died, but I made a deal with Margaret's brother and he made my soul Chuck's Persona."

Amiko had that odd smirk again. "I wish I were 20…then I could have alcohol to burn this whole conversation from my mind…"

"Lass, I'm 17…and Alcohol hasn't helped me the entire time…" James said.

"Even the strongest alcoholic beverage cannot wipe anything from your mind, James…" Margaret said.

"Anyway, what about the people who are not understanding what we're saying," James said, choosing not to answer to that.

"All they do is speak words. You cannot communicate with them," Zen said.

"Huh?" Yosuke said.

Margaret fielded the question. "The students here aren't human… They're something like Phantoms. Shadows will not attack them."

"As far as I know, those monsters you call Shadows have never come out from that labyrinth. I do not know why, but it's always been so," Zen explained.

"Always?" Yukiko asked, confused. "How long have you two been here?"

"Hmm… A pretty long while?" Rei said.

"What about before coming here?" Yukiko asked.

"We were here when we gained consciousness. We don't remember anything before that," Zen said.

"Our memories were taken," Rei said.

Everyone was stunned at that except Margaret who noted that with mild interest. "T-taken?!" Chie said.

"Wait, by who?!" Yosuke said.

"…I don't know," Rei said.

"But you remember having them taken?" Naoto said.

"But I remember having them taken," Rei said.

"But how would someone take another person's memories?"

"Hypnosis, drugs, subliminal messages, CIA mind altering techniques, surgery, the list is endless…" Chris said.

Zen shook his head. "They were not taken in such a violent manner. They were taken…much as if a person were to take a button from my clothing."

"…Could that 'someone' be here?" Yukiko asked.

"I don't know," Zen said.

"Uh…Could our memories get taken too…? I mean, the person who stole yours can have all of mine with Daitaka in them, but I don't want the rest of them stolen…" Chie said.

"I don't know…" Zen repeated, even more unsure.

"This seems pretty serious, Partner…" Yosuke said.

"Indeed," Yu said.

"Yeah," Rise said.

"…" Kanji said. Then as if something occurred to him. "Wait, for real?! Does that mean there's a bad guy here?!"

Chie sweatdropped. "The yen drops!" she said sarcastically.

"…In any case, let's look for a way to leave here," Naoto said. "The clues must be in that labyrinth. IT's obviously different from everywhere else here."

"Leave…?" Rei said. "…I want to leve too. I want to go back with everyone!"

"Rei?" Zen said, looking at her.

Rei looked at him. "Zen, let's leave together, okay? I want to go back too."

He thought about it for a second and then said, "All right. If that is what you wish." Then he looked at Yu. "I have a favor to request. If you are going to enter this labyrinth, I ask that you take us with you."

"Will you two be all right?" Yu asked.

"We won't be any trouble. I will protect Rei, and I can fight monsters in this labyrinth."

Yu thought about it for a second. "Let's search for a way out together."

"Well then, let us do this," Zen said.

"I hope we get along!" Rei said, bowing. Then she giggled. "Now that that's out of the way, I'm feeling hungry!"

Out of seemingly nowhere, Rei had a Takoyaki plate in her hands and started eating it. "Hot, hot! *munch*."

Chie was surprised. "Huh? Takoyaki?! Where'd you pull that out from?!"

Rei, as she was eating, replied happily, "I know something! Happiness comes in the shape of takoyaki."

"No, John said 'Happiness is a Warm Gun'," James said.

Teddie, back in his fur after being reassured that Amiko had calmed down, said, "Whoa… She's a Yosuke-level disappointment…"

Zen pulled out his crossbow. "Did you just insult Rei?!" Rei was oblivious to the whole thing.

"Eep! I-I would never! I just meant that her distinctive looks and bear-sonality are amazing!" Teddie said.

"Oh, really?" Amiko said, tapping her foot for effect.

"Gah! I'm beary sorry! I meant her distinctive looks and bear-sonality are as amazing as Ami-chan's!" Teddie said.

Somehow Rei also had a corndog with a zigzag drizzle of ketchup on it. "No, Zen! That's dangerous!"

"…" Zen said, his silent glare speaking volumes.

Yukiko laughed. "Haha…You two get along well."

"I promised that we'd stay together," Rei said happily.

Yu was taken by that statement. He thought about when his sister had died and she had said that one day to one of the nurses who thought Yu should go home.

"NO! I promised Yu that we'd stay together!" Aneko had said.

The nurse had backed off then, seeing the pain in Aneko's slowly dying eyes.

Yu wondered why the statement had the same weight now…

"I promised to get all cozy in my costume too!" Teddie said, blushing. "With Miss Margaret, of course."

"Then I will fulfill my duty as well. As guests of the Velvet Room, I will assist you as much as I am able. IF you are to fight against Shadows, you will need to make the necessary preparations, Hm… Where to start…"

"TEDDIE!" Amiko said. "Are you gonna flirt with every girl…?"

Teddie looked em-bear-assed. "Umm…Is there any answer I can give that will not mean death fur me?" Teddie said.

"No," all the girls said.

"If we are to fight Shadows, then I worry about our equipment," Naoto said. "To proceed safely, we'll want armor to protect ourselves and weapons to attack the Shadows. Useful tools would also be helpful, and ideally, we'd have someplace to replenish our stamina…"

"Yeah, I don't like the idea of having to go without supplies," Chie said.

"It's not like this place has a convenience store," Charles added.

"Would this be insufficient?" Zen said, holding up one of his crossbows. "It's a projectile device that uses nearby objects. Its effect changes depending on what it fires. Why don't you all use one?"

Chie was uncomfortable. "Hmm…I wouldn't feel confident using that. I'd probably shoot Yosuke before I got used to it."

"I can so see that happening…and the worst part is I don't know if she'd mean to hit me or not…" Yosuke said,

"I don't care, sign me the sod up!" James said.

"Seriously though, we all use completely different weapons. Never mind unfamiliar, it'd be dangerous."

"Aye! For the Shadows!" James said.

"I see… Different weapons for each of you…" Zen said.

"So it would help if you had weapons?" Rei said, in between bites of her corn dog.

"They can allow us to help Zen protect you…" Yu said.

"That is my duty…" Zen said, as if he was the only one who should be protecting Rei.

"Um, there's a place with all kinds of stuff lying around. I think they have some. Let's go look together!" Then she said, "And we can swing by the donut shop on our way!"

"That sounds nice," Amiko said. "Um, Yu-san? I know I don't have a Persona or a deceased BFF or weapons…but I can be a medic."

"I would need the help, Yu. Anything potions and spells can't fix, I'm going to need another pair of hands."

"Are you going to be okay?" Yu said.

Amiko nodded. "I know I've gotten upset and everything…but at this point, I figure it's better to be of help than curling in a ball, shaking"

"Yeah, we leave that to Chuck," Yosuke said.

"Hey!" Charles said.

"Charles-chan is doing much better. He only curls once a month…" Yukiko said.

"HEY!" Charles said.

Yu chuckled and gave a friendly squeeze to Charles's shoulder. "Be glad to have you, but Chris is responsible for you."

"I hope you're still not freaked out about me or my Persona, lass," Chris said.

"Well, it's unsettling, especially with a gun…"

"Evoker… And I don't need the thing in here or in the bloody TV world. I just carry it for nostalgia. I may accidentally use it from time to time in here, just tellin' you now, but I don't need it."

"It's okay, Chris. I don't need mine either…" Minako said.

"Well, shall we repair where Rei sayds these weapons are?" Minako asked.

"We shall," Yu said.

But as he was leaving the Velvet Room, he was lost in thought.

"You okay?" Minako said.

"Hm?" Yu said. "Oh, umm…there's something about Rei that reminds me about Aneko."

Minako nodded, as Yu had told her one day after they had made love in September the whole story. "Chuck know?"

Yu nodded sadly, only because Minako and Yosuke were the only ones whom Yu told and both had implored him to tell Charles and Yu had refused. "That whole business with Uncle Dojima chasing after that Drunk Driver in the hit-and-run, but ignoring Nanako, and me thinking Charles was playing chickenshit about the whole thing…I realized when he said that he didn't feel like he was family made me realize that he IS family to me and he deserved to know the truth about Onee-chan. And I guess I refused because I saw Chuck as an interloper, an outsider on those events…even though a part of it involved him. And so, I kept it…like Gollum and the One Ring."

"Well, I doubt you did like I did before the pizza arrived that one day in August, but… I'm glad you told him. At least he understands where you're coming from."

"Yeah…I just wish I knew why Rei reminds me of my sister."

Minako chuckled. "It's no mystery. Despite Aneko being your older sister and she was dying of Leukemia, you see in Rei the same thing…A girl who's deeply hurting and trying to smile about it when she's not realizing a little bit of her fear and discomfort…and so you think you can help Rei through this because you wish you could have helped Aneko beyond just being there…"

Yu thought about it. "Yeah, every day…I wish I could have done more… Maybe this is my chance…to make up for things, karmically.

"I think just being there was enough for your sister, and so she wouldn't be jealous or angry or anything…"

"I just wish I could see her, though. One more time…"

They left the Velvet Room. "Someday, Yu…"

"Yeah…Someday…" Yu replied.

Thy both went to the art room…unaware that Yu was now trapped in the Old One's web.

…

The Old One was laughing.