Date: May 7

Location: Mementos

Current Objective: Search Mementos

We had just completed a change of heart and were now leaving Nakanohara's area within Mementos. We were back into the tunnels of the underground Palace, in the Mona car. I was in the back seat now with Skull, who had a question about our next step. "So? What else you wanna do?"

"There's something I'd like to check in an area farther in." I nodded as Mona started to speak up. I still felt fairly good after we had just accomplished another change of heart! I was up for us to keep going farther in Mementos. "First off, we should look for a platform that'll let us descend."

"Wait, you've been here before, right?" Skull's voice held a quality of confusion in it. "Don't you got like a map or something?"

"That would hold no meaning in this place." Morgana seemed to have a bit of mysticism in his voice. "The layout changes every time you enter."

That would explain it! Though, that didn't make a lot of of sense still. I had an idea of what it meant. I believed that it simply meant what it sounded like. Mementos changed shape every time you come into the Palace. So it could have been like some sort of Schrodinger's Palace, the path doesn't truly exist until you see it. It seems like I was not the only one to have this idea. Panther seemed just as shocked as I was. "Wait, so our path changes too!?"

"What the hell!?" While I was interested in what changed in the Palace, I was rather frustrated… "That would make this place very difficult to navigate…"

"This place is the fused cognition of a countless number of people." Mona was going right back into teacher mode. I was awaiting the his answer as to the odd quality of Mementos. "It's constantly shifting. Even so, our destination should be pretty close. I'm counting on you, Joker."

The frizzy haired teen nodded with a smirk on his face. We started to make back through the air that we were in. I turned my head and just looked out the window as we started to pass different areas. The only sound that filled the air was Mona's engine, that was until I heard Skull's voice. "Last night? Fifty push-ups. Just look at these guns!"

I turned back to see Skull flexing his arms and looking between me and Panther. I chuckled at bleach blonde. Specially when Panther almost sighed at him. "Wow. Haven't heard anyone call them 'guns' in a while."

"Damn, Panther!" I started to laugh at the red clad girl's response! She started to laugh along with me, Skull's face dropped into a frown as Joker and Mona joined in as well! After a moment, Skull joined in as well. We were having a pretty good time, that was until I noticed something moving in the darkness a little farther ahead of us. As we got closer, I noticed that there was a large writhing black mass covered in porcelain white mask with black eye slots. It was obviously a Shadow, any one of us could tell from any distance. Just the feeling you got from the thing left no room for doubt. "Joker, up ahead, a Shadow!"

"I see it." I could see the worry in our leader's eyes. There wasn't enough room for us to move past the creature on either side without it seeing us! There was not much that we could do in this situation. We didn't know if we could start a fight with the Shadow while on the tracks. That was… until Mona started to speak up.

"Ram it!" We all quickly turned to the dashboard with wide eyes. That did not sound very good… it just seemed more dangerous than driving the Mona car around on a subway tracks! That in and of itself was really creepy and terrifying to think that a train could show up at any point in time! Though, if there were any trains, I felt like would have ran into them long before we got to Nakanohara's area. "You can knock them down if you ram into it!"

"OK!" Joker quickly got wicked look on his face as he slowly moved his foot from the brake to the gas pedal… This was either going to be really cool… or really bad… Spoiler alert… it was pretty damned awesome! Joker stomped on the gas and charged toward the Shadow as what I can only guess was the Shadow's back was turned toward us. I could feel the momentum as we slowly got closer and closer to the monster! The Shadow reacted like it could hear us, but before it could turn around, the Mona car literally jumped into the air! And at full speed we slammed into the large form of the Shadow. The Shadow spun through the air and slammed into the ground. The moment that the Mona car landed, we all filed out as quickly as we could and in a puff of smoke, Mona was once again in his monstercat form. The Shadow writhed even more so than before, exploded into a few knights on horse.

We had them completely caught off guard and dispatched them with one round of attacks. The moment the battle ended, Mona quickly changed back into a car and stopped in front of us. We hoped back in and continued forth. It didn't take too long, just a few more moments later, and a few quick turns, we found a new platform. Mona seemed fairly excited. "A platform! We can go farther down!"

We all quickly got out of the car and before we moved toward the stairs, Skull seemed shocked. "H-hold a sec… You guys hearin' something?" There was a low rumbling sound coming from the direction of the downward escalator, though it was on the other side of the tracks. After a moment or two, there was a train with a red glow that came to a stop at a platform on the other side. "The trains're totally runnin'!"

"OK, now I'm a bit worried about being here…" I sighed heavily at the realization that I was wrong and that the trains were running on the tracks! "I really wish i would have known this already!"

"Of course the trains are running." Mona, who was still in car form called out to us again. "We're in the subway, you."

Panther's face now grew into an expression of frustration. "Yeah, but I thought this was a Palace!"

"Then maybe this how the public views this place?" Mona's voice was calm and collected as he looked for the answer to this rather difficult question. I could understand how odd it seemed, we were literally looking at the entire public's collective thoughts give a physical form! That is not something that if you even knew everything about it, that you could explain simply… It'd be like trying to explain the green to someone that was color blind! "I don't know."

"People go through this darkness… every day…?" Panther's voice had a hint of sadness hidden in it. Her eye's lowered toward the floor, I wished that I knew what was going on in her head at that moment. Because if it was anything like what I was thinking, then it would scare anyone who saw this to try and change their ways…

Though, there was a more important question that was lingering in the air. One, that Skull was more focused on than how Mementos made him feel. "Forget that! You sure we're cool runnin' around on these tracks!?"

"It should be fine as long as we're not on the same ones… I think." Mona's pause was way too worrying for any of us to calm down at all! "I'm no train expert." That… made way too much sense… He was an expert on the Metaverse.

"You've gottta be kiddin' me…" Skull almost sighed with Mona's lack of knowledge on trains. Which, like I already mentioned, was a little unfair. I mean, not even I couldn't tell you how safe it was to be on these tracks, for all I knew, there was a train heading straight for us right now!

"Cut him a little bit of slack here, Skull." I rubbed the back of my head and sighed at my bleached blonde haired friend. This was the first time the four of us had been down here, but it was also at least the second time that Mona had been down here. I was gonna go out on a limb and I assumed that Mona didn't stay down here for longer than an hour or so at a time. I really hoped that I was right or this was going to go so terribly wrong…

"Anyway, let's head to the lower area." Mona's voice quickly went from concerned to excited in the matter of moments. "It should be right after we go down that escalator."

We went down the escalator to a platform that seemed like it could have been straight out of Harry Potter's worst nightmares! There was a dark red glow coming off of a few passing trains. The black gunk that was all over the place was growing out of the pillars. "All right, there it is! What I want to check is just past there!"

The platform was a pretty good distance long, it was at least a hundred feet from the escalator to the area that we were trying to get to. Once we got there, we were greeted by the most out of place that we had seen so far! There were small hexagonal pillars with weird red lined patterns and circles that added to the eerie feeling of the floor that we were on. Though, the most amounis part of this platform was the large solid stone wall with the same patterns all over it. The patterns of the wall made it seem like there was a weird looking diamond in the middle of the wall. "...What is this place? It's kinda creepy."

"I'd have to say that it's more ominous than anything else." I rubbed the back of my neck as everyone turned to look at me for a moment before they turned back to the wall. "It just feels like a omen… Not to mention that it's a dead end, so what is it we are here for?"

"Now hold on…" Mona turned back to us with a hopeful look. It really seemed like he had quite a bit riding on this wall… I will say, that was enough for me to stay there. I promised to help out Mona, so I needed to make sure that this would help him. "Just watch. This is most likely not an ordinary wall. If my hunch is correct."

With that, Mona walked up to the door and placed a paw on it. There was an immediate response, first there was a low but intense rumbling that caught us all off guard. We all kept our gaze plastered to the wall and after a moment or two, the diamond in the middle of the wall raised up and the four circles that were left over from the wall rolled out of the way. This revealed that there was another stairway that lead farther down into Mementos… The wall was really a large and imposing door that had blocked any real form of progress. "I wish that I could say that I'm not shocked, but yet here I am, shocked by the Metaverse once more…"

Suddenly a voice called out from our phones. The MetaNav started to speak up once more. "A new area has been confirmed in the depths. Updating guidance information."

"See!?" Mona started to jump in excitement. It seemed as if Mona's goal, or at least part of it was completed in the opening of the door. "It's just as I thought!"

"What do you mean?" Panther tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"That wall wouldn't budge when I came here by myself before." This was the first time that I had heard the excitement stay in Mona's voice as he went into his teacher mode. If I hadn't been so focused on what he was saying at the time, it would have brought a small smile to my face. Still, we needed answers, and it seemed like we were reaching the back of the "How to be a Phantom Thief 101" book. "But it'd be weird for the deepest part of Mementos to be some normal place like this, wouldn't it?"

"So you were thinkin' there's gotta be more?" Skull crossed his arms as he was trying to figure out what it was that Mona was saying.

"Yeah!" Mona nodded to agree with the teen. "Now that Kamoshida's Palace is gone and people are actually starting to talk about us… I knew something had to have changed down here!"

"How deep is it?" Panther's curiosity sound like it had gotten the better of her. Though, I couldn't really argue with it. Despite how creepy Mementos was, there was something about it that seemed to gnah at that primal instinct that tells you to jump when you are standing on a cliff over water. "Should we try going further down?"

"Let's not." Mona seemed to be done with our adventure for the day. Which after a few moments of standing there, I could feel the start of the fatigue that I had gotten from being Kamoshida's Palace. I was starting to wonder if this was because of the Metaverse itself, or summoning my Persona… "That's not why we're here today, remember? We've already accomplished our goal. We should head back and I'll explain more once we're home."

We waited for a moment as Mona started to move past us and we all headed back to entrance of the weird as hell Palace of the General Public.

TAKE YOUR TIME

"Mementos, huh…?" Ryuji was leaning against the old subway car that was outside of the train station. Ann was to his right and they were facing Morgana who was to the right of me and Akira. We all felt a tad tired, if you looked closely, you could see that we were moving just a little stiff. "I still don't really get that place. Oh, and what was that wall thing we saw at the end?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it blocked us from going in past a certain depth." Morgana's face had changed into one of a determination since we had left the Palace. "If Mementos is the public's Palace though… it might be affected by the general public's belief in us."

"So the basicly, the bigger the target we go after, hopefully the more people believe in us, the farther down that we can go in Mementos." I placed my hands in my pocket with a quick little smile on my face.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking." Morgana nodded in agreement with me. Ann moved her right hand up to her chin with a curious look on her face.

"Why do you know so much about it, Morgana?" That was a very good question that I was honestly surprised that none of us had asked yet. With my curiosity also peaked, I moved my head to focus back on the black cat.

"My memories are a little foggy in that regard…" Morgana's face turned downward toward the ground now. I could see the sadness in his eyes. After learning that he didn't have his memories awhile ago, this made understanding how he felt all the easier in the moment now. "However, I need to know what lies in the depths of Mementos, no matter what."

"No matter what…?" Ann quickly dropped her hand to her side and looked back up to Morgana. Morgana quickly stood up on all fours and the sadness was quickly replaced with that determination once more!

"Mementos is not just everyone's Palace, it's the source of all Palaces." That was a shock! That was big news and I was even more focused on the small cat now! "It used to be that Palaces like Kamoshida's with one ruler simply didn't exist. So, if we can do something about the greatest cause of distortions, I'm certain my appearance will…!"

I felt a twinge of sadness in my chest at the last statement toward the small cat. Ann started to play with one of her twintails and I could hear that same twinge of sadness in her voice. "You wanted someone to save you too."

Morgana started to freak out, he arched his back and his eyes grew wide as his tail shot straight up into the air and shook violently. That statement really caught him off guard. "I-I just needed pawns."

Ryuji took a step away from the train car now, his hands still at his pockets. "I see… So that's why came pokin' your nose around with us."

"...I'll help you." Ann's face had a small sincere smile on her face. "I hope you can regain what you've lost."

I got a small, but sincere smile of my own now. "Well, I already said I'd help you out, and I don't plan on backing out of that anytime soon."

"I'll… be relying on you guys." Morgana's face and voice both seemed to be sad now. It was nice that he was starting to open up to us even more now.

"By the way Morgana… are you a boy?" And like that, the mood took a drastic turn! "Or might you be a girl?"

"Oh dear god I hope your a boy…" I smiled at the black cat with a larger smile now. "I mean, that's how I've been addressing you!"

"Definitely a boy." Akira turned his head to Morgana with a small of his own. Ann got a huge smile on her face. As she looked to me and Akira.

"Yeah, I agree… I wanted to make sure though just in case." I started to chuckled at the thought of the girl that Morgana was crushing on thinking he was a girl! Ryuji turned his head up toward the skyline of the city as a huge smile found its way on his face as well!

"He could turn out to be pretty ancient." I started to chuckle at that image now! Just the moment that Morgana turns human, he immediately uses his sword as a cane and looks like Gandalf the Grey! "What if he smells like an old person?"

"I hadn't thought of that!" I started to full on laugh now. I had to move my arms to my stomach and I doubled over laughing at the mental images of girl Morgana and oldman Morgana!

"Stop that…" Morgana's face went into a grimace. After a moment or so the cat's face changed from the grimace that he was currently wearing changed into a face of anger. "In any case, of course I'm male! I mean, I…"

"What is it?" Ann started to show some concern for Morgana. I could see that everyone was a little bit worried for our team member. There was a pause for a moment or two. Then Morgana started to speak up once more.

"No… It's nothing." The sadness from earlier was plastered all over Morgana's face. "We're done talking about that! Anyway, we now know that we can perform minor changes of heart in Mementos. If we come across any eye-catching leads, it may be worth dealing with them for a bit of combat practice."

"There weren't any other outstanding ones though…" Ann almost sighed in frustration. From what was being said before we went into Mementos, that was a very true statement.

"Well, the would be that as we get more people that believe in us, the better request we would get." I held my hand out to put emphasis on my statement. "So right now, we only go simple highschool issues. Just imagine what request we could get later on!"

"Yeah, just what I was thinkin'!" Ryuji just leaned back against the train car once more. The biggest smile I had ever seen on someone's face until then grew on his face. "After all the big fish are our main targets after all."

"First you need to find a way to get through your exams." I could hear the cheeriness in Morgana's voice once more. Though, the moment that those words left Morgana's mouth, Ryuji's face turned into one of dread. The bleach blonde dropped his head in defeat.

"I gotta study…" I started to laugh at our friend, it was enough that I didn't notice someone was watching us from a far….

TAKE YOUR TIME

"Champagne flutes and dinner suits that keep your focus away from the cheating hands." I beat of the song pumped against my ears through my my headphones. I could feel the granite rub off the tip of my pencil as continued to work out a problem that I was working on. Unlike Ryuji, who I knew would be playing games right now, I wanted to focus on my studying. "Tell me does that sexy gown say what she's got in store for her man? So we roll the dice, see where they may fall come on, why don't we spin the wheel see whom it-"

That was the moment that my phone stopped playing music in return for a loud buzzing. I ripped my eyes away from my study materials. I looked down at my phone to see that Ali was calling me. I felt a small smile come to my face as I pressed my finger on the answer button. It was quiet for a moment after I answered the call. "Yo?"

"Spector, you there…?" My smile slowly faded once more as I heard the small quivering in her voice. She was having another bad night… I didn't need her to tell me, this time at least…

"Yeah, I'm here…" I leaned back in my chair and brought my phone closer to my face. My headphones didn't have a microphone on them, I had to make sure that she could still hear me talking. "You feeling OK…?"

"N-no…" There was silence on her line, so I waited. Rushing her right now would only serve to make her clam up even more. I sat there in silence waiting for her response. Finally… "Do… do you think I'm a bad person…?"

The question caught me off guard, she had never really given me anything like before… I was getting more worried now… I took a moment to gather my thoughts, and finally bringing the words I wanted to up from my throat. "No, I don't think you are a bad person."

"Oh…" There was another long pause from her line. This one was almost worrying… "S-so… wh-what do you think of me…?"

Again… I was caught off guard! I had flashbacks to Ryuji picking on me for my… apparent crush on Ali… I took a quick breath and felt a pit grow in my stomach. "Honestly… I think you are my best friend Ali, you are someone that I enjoy talking to. I… I want to get to know you more…"

This time there was an even longer pause, then… "O-oh… OK… Thank you… my Rival…"

"Of course my MC." My smile started to slowly come back. "You doing better?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry, your st- probably studying, so I'll let you go now." I could hear a little bit of her cheer voice return. Though, the pit in my stomach had not gone away. I think I wanted to continue to talk to her, but she was right… I needed to study still…

"Y-yeah… its OK, I'm glad your feeling better…" I rubbed the back of my neck as my eyes moved toward the ground. "Good night Ali…"

"Good night Spector!" With that… the phone line went dead, and my music started once more. I took a deep breath and slammed my head against my desk and sighed heavily… I think I was finally starting to agree Ryuji… but I didn't want to admit that...

All right reserved to their respectful owners.

Soooooo... I need to make an apology.

This chapter... took WAY too long to come out.

But I have a personal and reasonable reason way.

I was getting burned out.

I needed to take a break so I did. It honestly helped me.

Also, so did playing all that D&D I did.

Let me tell you, if you get stuck in a rut with writing, go play some D&D!

No joke, it helps the creative process.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please send in your feedback!