Madran landed on the floor in front of Elia and Chicory. Chicory yet out a scared yelp, and Elia seemed to have a mini heart attack.
"Hi! I'm back!"
"Uh, hi, Madran! So, what happened?"
"I had to come back because a door that I couldn't open got in the way."
"Oh. Is there a lock somewhere?"
"Nope. I gotta have dad see me open the door to his room in real life."
"Hmm. How does that work?"
"Well, his world in his cognition is entirely based off of his world, plus a bunch of weird twists, so, if he sees me open the door to his room, then the door to his room will open in his own world."
"Hmm. That's... interesting. And just when you had sworn that you would never visit him again, here we are."
"It'll only be a day visit. I hope."
"Heh. How should we arrange it?"
"Um, I'll just visit when I can?"
"Plus, Madran?"
"Yes?"
"Can you take me to visit this world?"
"Um, you'll kinda be defenseless. No offense, but the only way I can survive in there is through a power that, um, not many people have."
"Is that power the personas that man mentioned?"
"Yep."
Madran sat next to Chicory and calmed him down.
"Well, you should check your phone. It was going insane."
Madran jumped up and ran over to her room, closing her door and plopping down on her bed. She opened her phone, noticing that there were 67 unread messages from the group chat with Suga and Sheila.
"Oh my..."
Madran opened the app, scrolling up to right after she entered her father's cognition.
Suga: Hey, have you seen Madran?
Sheila: No
Suga: Well, I'll get back to you in a few hours.
Madran checked the time, seeing that it was 5:09. She had entered when it was 3.
"Well then."
Madran continued to read the messages.
Suga: I'm back
Sheila: Nice
Suga: Well, while we wait, I have something to talk about.
Sheila: Yes?
Suga: It's that dream that Madran seemed to know that we had
Sheila: Oh
I just assumed that she was psychic
Suga: However, I didn't get visited by someone wearing a mask. A tall, white-haired lady in a limo did.
Sheila: I got visited by a white-haired lady in an elevator
Suga: Interesting
Sheila: She mentioned that I was destined to become a queen if I unlocked the inner me
Suga: The limo lady also said something about my true inner self. I'm confused.
Madran read the next few hours of messages, seeing much of the same. She then texted back to her friends.
Madran: Hi
Madran waited for a minute before calling her dad.
"Yes, Madran?"
"Not even a hello? Anyways, I wanted to spend an afternoon with you. When would that be possible?"
"Well..."
Madran heard Travert clicking on his computer.
"Would Thursday work?"
The typing stopped.
"No, I'm busy up until Friday."
Madran sighed.
"Well, I just wanted to visit you. It's been awhile."
"Sure. Goodnight."
Travert hung up.
"He wasn't even excited..."
???: Friday, huh?
Madran jumped at the random message.
Madran: Who are you?"
???: It's Philemon.
Madran: What? How?
Philemon: I can access your phone, I don't know how.
Madran: Well, then you certainly heard about Friday.
Philemon: Why yes, I did. We should take advantage of this time to get you stronger. Once Shadow Travert knows that you are going for the treasure, he won't relent on defenses.
Madran: And, how do we do that?
Philemon: By going into the shared cognition of all of Shibuya.
Madran: What?!
Philemon: Come, I can explain this soon.
As soon as Philemon sent that message, a light blue glow emitted from her closet. Madran went in there to find a blue door sitting there. Madran went into it, entering the Velvet Room.
"Ah, welcome back."
"Um..."
"It is ok to be confused. I have formed a connection between this world and your world."
"Ok..."
"Well, would you like to know what you can do here?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Well, you can talk with me, strengthen your Persona, and enter many cognitive worlds, like your phone app."
"But, can't I use my phone?"
"What if your phone is gone?"
"Oh."
"Well, come back when you would wish. You have a loving, caring mother waiting for you."
Madran smiled, going back out of the room and re-entering her closet. She then stepped out of it, seeing that Chicory was sitting there and waiting. He ran over to Madran when he saw her, wanting to be pet. Madran did so, and pet him for some time. Then, Elia called Madran over fro dinner.
"Coming!"
Madran hopped up from her bed, noticing that, despite the plushness of the bed in Travert's cognitive room for her, the bed she slept in daily felt right. She then enjoyed dinner with her mother, and went to shower.
"So, what exactly do you do with your Persona to battle?"
Madran thought a bit.
"Well, I take off a mask that I wear, and give it orders. It can scan an enemy to see what it's weak to, and use actual attacks."
Elia nodded.
"Um, what attacks?"
"Fire, lowering defenses, and whacking it with a candlestick."
"A candlestick?"
"Yeah. My persona is called Nightingale, like Florence Nightingale."
"Ooh. So, where do you think a nurse from the 1700's factors into your 'true self?'"
"Um... her message to me was, right before she first appeared, was 'I am thou, thou art I! Let the fire of your soul never be covered by the blanket of lies again!' or something like that."
"Wow. Well, I'm sure the actual Nightingale put a lot of passion into her work."
"Yep!"
Madran chatted with Elia for some more time. Two hours, to be exact. Then, the sun bid its farewell for the night, and the small family began to feel the first draughts of sleepiness.
"Hmm. Well, I'm off to bed! Goodnight."
Madran hugged Elia and rubbed Chicory's belly some more and then went off to her room. Suga and Sheila hadn't texted back yet, and Philemon didn't have any witticisms to remark either. Madran nodded off to sleep, ready for the next day.
January 19
The next few days went by without much going on. Madran's school time was the usual, with a steady flow of homework, all of her friends and relatives were fine, and Philemon had been helping her train. "Training" was, in Madran's eyes, spending a few hours defeating shadows to get even more power than before. Now, it was a Thursday. Madran had just gotten out of school, and was walking back with Suga and Sheila.
"So, you two, how was gy-"
"Horrible."
"-m"
Madran stared at Suga in a small moment of silence.
"What happened?"
"Well, that one kid taht I've been complaining about for the past few days went and fucking grabbed my ass, and when I slapped him, the gym teacher sent ME to detention."
"Oh no."
"Proctora-san arrived and picked me up earlier, but first gave a little talk to Kamoshida and stuff. I heard yelling."
"What about your parents?"
"My dad's leg is still broken, and mom's insistent on keeping watch over him so that nothing bad happens."
"Yikes."
Sheila sighed.
"I was ignored in gym, somehow. Everyone seemed to be more focused on Ms. Hardass vs. the creep."
"Hey!"
"Well, you are. I mean, you're the most intense quiet person I've seen."
Madran giggled. She then looked around on the partially crowded subway, and saw a familiar face staring back.
"Oh, it's him," Suga whispered.
Travert was standing like a statue, staring blankly into space. He was wearing a trench coat, a fedora, and seemed intent on not noticing anyone.
"He looks like he's in the mafia. Look at him."
Sheila snickered.
"Yeah, I can see where you get that observation from."
Madran was deathly quiet. The train stopped, and Travert stepped off. It was now just the girls and some other school kids on the train.
"Ok, he's gone."
"Um, Madran?"
"Yes?"
"Are you ok? Like, you looked like you'd seen a demon."
"Eh. I just didn't want dad to notice me with you guys."
"What...?"
"Oh, whatever. Oh, and it's my stop. Bye!"
Madran hurried off the train when it stopped next and made her way back to her house. Chicory was right there, barking at her to signal her arrival.
"Hi, Madran!"
Elia ran over to Madran, helping out with her bags.
"So, do you have homework?"
"Yep! I'll work on that now."
Madran got her binders out and began to work on her worksheets, finishing in an hour. It was now 4, and she went back to her room.
"So, off to the other world again?"
"Yep! This will be quick, I hope."
Madran entered her room, going into her closet and entering the Velvet Room.
"Ah, welcome back."
"Hi!"
"So, I just remembered that there are separate ways to train your persona, aside from using the palace."
"And that is?"
"Well, once you have a few more friends."
"Hmm. So, off to the palace?"
"Yes."
Philemon led her through another door, suddenly appearing through the door outside of the mansion. Madran was back in her dress, as usual, and Philemon turned into a butterfly.
"Should I use the third floor now?"
"Yes, that would be a bit more rewarding."
Philemon transported her to the safe room on the third floor.
"Well, go have fun."
Madran nodded, running off. During the last few days, she had juggled spending time with Elia and training in the mansion. During the short sessions, Nightingale had learned a self-inflicting move that improved the attack power of Madran and her for some time, and nothing else. She did the usual, which was run around and ambush unsuspecting shadows, making short work and moving on.
"Hmm. So, the third floor..."
Madran activated a scan, seeing that there were some butlers wandering around. She ran around, fighting Pixies, Jack Frosts, and the occasional Pyro Jack.
"Ok! There's another one over there."
Nightingale pointed her candle over to a golden butler.
"Ooh. Let's fight that one."
Madran snuck up on the butler, tapping its shoulder. When it turned around, Madran yanked the mask off. What it turned into was the surprise, however.
"Oh. Woah."
A massive, armored specter riding a horse stared her down. The armor was a rusty orange and red, and the horse was a deep green. It pawed the ground, and the shadow stared her down.
"Um, scan!"
Madran activated Nightingale, seeing that it was weak to electricity. She had no such attack, so resorted to fire attacks. The first few Agi's hit perfectly, but then the ghost waved its spear around.
"Watch out!"
Madran shot around the massive shadow, dodging the massive gust of wind. She struck the horse with her flail once, before the horse charged at her.
"Ok! Rakunda!"
Nightingale used the attack, lowering the defensive power of the assailant for a bit. Madran then unleashed more fire, weakening the thing quite a bit.
"Uh, Sukunda!"
Madran felt a red ring encircle her, dissipating and raising Nightingale's attacking power a slight amount. The shadow then charged at her, with Madran nearly dodging it.
"When will this thing die?"
"Keep burning it."
Nightingale shot more fire everywhere, causing the horse to begin to buckle.
"Ok! Another scan!"
Madran scanned the shadow a second time, showing that it was nearly defeated.
"Ok! Do that thing!"
Nightingale smacked the specter with her candle. The shadow's horse fell over, and they both dissolved into dust.
"Yay! We did it!"
"That was... something."
"And we didn't get hit by it, either."
Madran smiled and de-summoned Nightingale, taking out more shadows. However, once Nightingale failed to preform an Agi, she knew that something was up.
"Um?"
"I can't. No more energy."
Nightingale flickered away and turned back into Madran's mask. Madran finished the Silky with her flail and ran back to the safe room, avoiding more butlers along the way.
"Ah. Welcome to the safe room."
"You've been waiting to say that, huh?"
"Well, this is the temporary Velvet Room as of now."
"Well, Nightingale couldn't use Agi anymore, so I headed back."
"Ok. Let's go."
Philemon teleported Madran back to the entrance and entered the Velvet Room with her. She was back in her regular clothes, and Philemon was back as a human.
"Ok. That was very successful. Now, you should head back. I bet that you're ready for any challenge that should present itself to you now."
Madran nodded and smiled, running back through the door and arriving in her closet. She stepped out of it, and spent the rest of the night with Elia and Chicory. However, during the making of dinner, a very concerning interaction happened.
"So, Madran."
"Yes?"
"Well, my little firm is getting an inspection from Travert's business, and they said that they would be assigning Travert to do it."
"When?"
"Um, on the fifth."
"Ok. That's worrying."
"Well, did you find that out already, in, y'know, his mind?"
"Yeah, but I thought that it was just him raving on."
"Is there a version of me in there?"
"Nopers."
Elia seemed a little relieved.
"Good."
"Well, you can't be sure. He might have someone in there, aside from him."
Elia nodded, continuing the making of dinner. After a long day, Madran ate with her mother, cleaned herself up, and was off to sleep to prepare for the next day.
END OF CHAPTER 5
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Time for more doors! Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed! I'll see every one of you next time. Plus, if you have suggestions, please let me know. Bye!