Tanjiro clenched his fist. He turned his attention to the man in the safari shirt and tie.

The man turned his head and covered his face, cowering. "G- Get him!" he screamed, pointing at Tanjiro.

The two bulky men with him exploded into wisps of black and red smoke. Grey-skinned, malformed humanoid figures emerged.

On instinct, Tanjiro reached to his left hip. His hand gripped the handle of a sword, and he drew a katana with a black blade, creating a circle of fire as he brought it over his head and around to his right side. He gripped it with both hands, and prepared for the oncoming battle.

The first charged forward and swiped with its clawed hands. Tanjiro sidestepped and forcefully brought his sword down, cleaving halfway through the creature's torso. Normally this would disgust him, but at the moment, it was the least of his concerns.

He was about to pull his sword free when the monster disintegrated into black nothingness. He was suddenly hit in the side. He turned to the other .

"Jimmu!" he shouted. His robed, spindly wooden persona appeared above him. It made a rising motion with its right hand, and a short burst of fire erupted beneath the beast.

The two combatants dashed toward each other, and as the enemy lunged, Tanjiro sliced off its right arm, stepping beneath it to the left. It rolled onto the floor, but turned back and sprang forward. Tanjiro raised his left arm in defense, which the thing bit into with ugly fangs. Quickly, Tanjiro finished his foe with a blow to the head and watched as it disintegrated as well.

Tanjiro elegantly sheathed his sword, and looked back to the last man. "H-how..." he muttered.

Tanjiro began walking towards him.

"H-how dare you intrude on MY zoo!?" the man yelled. He charged at Tanjiro, who ducked down to meet him, redirecting his weight into the fish tank beside him. The man fell in with a large splash, and began frantically flailing about. He coughed and sputtered. "I- I can't swim! Help me, someone!"

"Hrk!" Tanjiro vomited in his mouth, remembering what had just occurred. 'I need to get out of here!' he thought.

"Damn you! I'll get- *cough* I'll get you for this!" The man in the water tank yelled. Slowly, and definitely not surely, he was making his way back towards Tanjiro.

Tanjiro gave him a look that was a mix of disgust and pity, then he ran away back down the stairs and out into the main room lined with fish tanks. He exited the room the opposite way he came in, turning a corner and going down a short hallway before coming to a door that led out of the building.

He ran across a long concrete walkway. To his right and left were some open areas for larger animals. A fence protected the walkway, which ended at another building reading 'Life in the Forest.'

Inside, he took a break, which is where he realized that his clothes were different. He was wearing a black leather jacket, gloves, and pants. Under the jacket, a yellow shirt with an orange flame pattern coming up from the bottom. "Huh? Where'd my school clothes go?" he wondered aloud.

He thought he noticed some sort of design on the back of his jacket, so he took it off to look. Starting at the right and left seams, art of the ocean went across the bottom, stylized like a japanese scroll. A rising wave was on the left side. At the top right, a little lower than the shoulder, there was a red circle with an orange corona that could only be the sun.

He put the jacket back on. He didn't have any idea why his clothes had suddenly changed to a biker's, but that wasn't something to worry about at the moment.

Outside, the walkway turned right, went through 'Life in the Desert,' turned right again, and led into 'Life in the Cold.' Tanjiro was walking through, when he heard a knock to his left.

Behind a glass wall, in a fairly large exhibit, were a human boy and girl. Tanjiro approached. A plaque next to the glass read 'Arctic Fox.'

The boy was the same height as Tanjiro and looked about the same age, too. He had frizzy, shoulder-length, peach colored hair, and his eyes and nose were covered by a wooden mask shaped like a lion's face. There was a large scar on his right cheek. He was wearing white pants with brown boots, while on his torso he had a lavender chestpiece dotted with steel studs. Around his neck, he had some kind of fur, resembling a mane when combined with the mask. A straight, long European sword with a long handle was sheathed on his hip.

The girl was much shorter, with black hair that fell past her shoulders. Her mask was smaller, only covering the eyes, like Tanjiro's. It was blue leather with frills around the edges, and Tanjiro could see her eyes were blue too. She was wearing some sort of padded jacket, a darker, but still vivid blue, like the boy's armor without the studs. She was wearing white pants and brown boots too. At her hip, there was also a straight European sword, but slightly shorter with a one-handed handle. The pommel was flat and circular, like a thick coin, where the boy's pommel was pear-shaped, smoothly formed from the handle.

The boy put his hand up on the glass. "Hey, can you get us out?" He had to shout to get through the glass.

"Who are you?" Tanjiro shouted back.

"I'll explain later," the boy responded. He pointed to a section of the wall where another handle-less door painted bluish-black like the wall was. "There's the door to the back."

"I don't have a key," said Tanjiro. The door in the other building had a keyhole, but no handle.

"Don't worry, the zookeeper lost his key, so he leaves the door unlocked," said the girl. She pointed behind her. "There's a similar door in the enclosure, but on the other side, it locks and has a handle."

Tanjiro nodded. "I understand," he said. "I'll be right there!"

Like the girl had said, the door pushed open, with a little effort, as there was a stop on the other side keeping it closed. In the back room, Tanjiro found a door with the words 'Arctic Fox' on it. A small wood board was bolting the door shut, so he lifted it and opened it up.

The two walked out silently.

"So, why were you in there?" Tanjiro asked.

"We got caught by the palace ruler and he imprisoned us there," the boy responded. "I'm Sabito, by the way. This is Makomo." He gestured to the girl.

"R-right, I'm Tanjiro Kamado," Tanjiro responded. "Wait, did you just say palace? But this is a zoo."

The boy and girl glanced at each other.

"You are a persona user, aren't you?" Sabito asked.

"Huh?"

Sabito put his hand on his forehead and sighed, then he pointed at Tanjiro's face. "That mask," he said.

Tanjiro felt around his eyes. "Oh, yeah! I almost forgot about this." He pulled it off, no blood this time, to look at it. It was wood, but painted red and orange.

"Jimmu!" he said. The mask dissolved into blue flame in his hand, as Jimmu, the silver-robed, twig figure with flaming eyes appeared above him. It quickly disappeared as the mask returned to Tanjiro's face, though.

"So, Jimmu is a 'persona'?" Tanjiro asked. "What does that mean?"

"A persona is the true self," said Makomo. "When you rip off the mask you wear in your heart and unleash your rebellious spirit, you gain that power."

"And why did my clothes change?" Tanjiro asked.

"That's what a rebel looks like to you," Sabito answered.

"Okay, so what's up with this zoo, then?"

"Right now, we're in the cognitive world," said Makomo, "the world formed by the human mind. When a person's heart is overtaken by distorted desires, a palace forms here. At the heart of the palace is the treasure, the physical manifestation of those desires. If the treasure is stolen, the person will lose those desires and realize what they've done."

"A 'change of heart,' so to speak," said Sabito.

Makomo nodded. "That's a good way to put it."

"Okay... So who was that guy with the tie?" Tanjiro asked.

"I take it you're referring to the palace ruler," Sabito said. "A palace is inhabited by the shadow of its creator. A shadow is the part of oneself that they don't want to acknowledge, the side that they repress. Basically the opposite of a persona."

"The ego and will of a palace ruler are so great that they can pull in other people's shadows to serve them as well. While inhabiting the palace, they are bent and distorted to fit the ruler's vision, forced to wear a mask," said Makomo. "In this palace, the shadows take the form of zookeepers. The masks, oddly enough, are hands."

"Wait, who's the ruler?" asked Tanjiro.

Sabito looked right at him. "Isn't it obvious? It's Yoshihara Takiashi."

Tanjiro fell silent.

"I-I thought it might be," he said at last.

"So, if I'm getting this right, the animals here have people's faces because he sees them as animals, and that when he kidnaps someone, he thinks he's adding them to his zoo?" said Tanjiro.

"Well, yes," said Sabito. "That's pretty much the gist of it. May I ask, what is your connection to Takiashi?"

"He kidnapped my sister Nezuko," said Tanjiro, "and the police can't even do anything. It pisses me off!"

Sabito and Makomo nodded.

"We could use your help finding the treasure and changing Takiashi's heart, Tanjiro," said Sabito.

"Of course!" said Tanjiro. "Thank you."

"Thank you for getting us out of there," said Makomo. Suddenly, she stared off in thought.

"What is it?" Tanjiro asked.

"I just realized it might not be a good idea to use our real names in a palace," she said.

"Huh? Why not?"

"I don't know. That's the problem, we don't really know everything about the cognitive world."

"So you're suggesting we use code names," Sabito stated.

"Exactly," said Makomo. "We need to communicate without having to shout out our names."

"Are you sure you're not saying that because you think code names in movies are cool," Sabito asked, sarcastically.

Makomo was embarrassed. "Well, a little," she said, "but I still think it's a good idea."

"Okay, then, you first," said Sabito. "What do you want to be called?"

"Hmm..." she started. "Well, I wear blue. Maybe something about that?"

"What about 'Azure'? I don't know, I've always liked the sound of that word," said Tanjiro.

"Hey, yeah, that's pretty good!" said Makomo. "Okay, now what about you?" She pointed at Sabito.

"Should we just call him 'Lion'?" asked Tanjiro.

"Hmph. Works for me," said Sabito.

"Okay, now what about our third member? I really like the flame mask, by the way," said Makomo.

"Um, thanks..." said Tanjiro. "I feel like being called 'fire' or 'flame' would be lazy, though. I know we just made you 'lion', but still."

"What about 'Flare', like a signal fire?" Sabito suggested.

"Ooh, that's a good one!" said Makomo.

Tanjiro nodded. "Mm-hm, I like it."

"Then it's decided!" said Makomo. "Azure, Lion, and Flare. What should we call ourselves, I wonder?"

"What do you mean?" Tanjiro asked.

"Like, a name for the group."

"Well, our goal is to steal Takiashi's treasure," said Sabito, "what about the 'Phantom Thieves'?"

"Wow, that has a really nice ring to it," said Tanjiro.

"Alright, that sounds good, then," said Makomo. "Now, we should probably focus on escaping."

"Oh, right! I pushed Takiashi in a pool of water earlier, and he said he couldn't swim, but I'm sure he'll be back with more shadows soon," said Tanjiro

"Let's go, then," said Sabito.

Outside was actually a fairly straight shot to the entrance, as the 'Life in' buildings were to the right of the gate, but now there was a shadow guarding it. They hid behind a corner to watch it pace.

"Alright, Flare, let's see what you know," said Sabito. "First things first, if you sneak up behind a shadow or surprise them, try to rip off their mask. The confusion of suddenly returning to their true form will give us an advantage in combat. Try it, we'll follow your lead."

"Really? You trust me?" Tanjiro asked. Sabito and Makomo nodded. "A-Alright."

He waited until the shadow's back was turned, then he ran out into the open. Quickly, he dashed up to the shadow's back, with Sabito and Makomo following him. His instincts told him to jump, and he did, finding he made it up to the shadow's shoulders.

It was shocked, and bucked in response, but Tanjiro held fast. He grabbed the hand clutching the thing's face. "Show me your true form!" he shouted, ripping it off.

He jumped back, off the shadow's shoulders, as it exploded and transformed.

Three enemies. Like before, they were mostly humanoid with grey, veiny skin, and claws and fangs. The third had a black tongue, long enough to reach down past its chest, with saliva dripping down.

The group drew their swords.

"Alright, Flare, first lesson!" Sabito shouted. "A shadow's weak point is the neck!"

He darted forward to the first shadow on the left, and, in an elegant circular motion, cleanly sliced its head off. It disintegrated.

"Whoah..." Tanjiro murmured. Quickly, he imitated the maneuver, rushing in, ducking down, and slicing off the second shadow's head.

Makomo ran in at the third one with the long tongue, but when she attacked, it whipped its tongue up and deflected the blade.

The three jumped back as the fight paused.

"Most shadows won't just let you slice their head off," Sabito explained. You'll have to hit their weakness to create an opening."

The break ended as the shadow rushed at Makomo. Its tongue lit up with electrical sparks, and faster than the eye could see, snapped up and hit her in the arm she held her sword with.

"Yow!" she yelped, dropping the weapon.

Sabito quickly pulled off his mask, revealing his lavender eyes that had been concealed. "Godfrey!" he shouted. Blue flames enveloped him, and the figure of a crusader, a knight wearing a white surcoat with a red cross, appeared. It was wearing over its armor a black cape, and its hands were empty, pressed together as if in prayer.

Wind surrounded the shadow and caused it to rock back, as if stunned. The persona vanished, and Sabito swiftly finished the shadow off.

Aside from the sounds of heavy breathing, the area fell silent. Tanjiro, Sabito, and Makomo sheathed their swords.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," said Sabito.

"Yeah..." Tanjiro responded.

They walked through the zoo's gate and back out onto what seemed to be the street.

"Oh, wow!" said Tanjiro. "I totally forgot that the zoo was just on the side of the street."

"Distortions are usually concentrated in one place. In this case, Takiashi's apartment," said Makomo. "Outside the palace is usually a fairly accurate depiction of reality."

"I guess that makes sense," said Tanjiro. "How do I return to the real world, anyway?"

"I'd guess it's the same way you got here," Sabito answered.

"The same... but I don't know how I- Oh! That app!" Tanjiro pulled his phone out of his pocket, which apparently hadn't left with his uniform, and turned it on. "No signal..."

He clicked the red icon, and the app opened to some kind of menu. Text at the top of the screen read 'Metaverse Navigator.' A large button with the words 'Return to the Real World' sat at the bottom.

"We'll be waiting for you when you return," said Sabito.

"You're not coming?" Tanjiro asked.

They shook their heads.

Tanjiro nodded. "Alright! We'll change his heart, we have to!"

He waved goodbye to Sabito and Makomo, then pressed the button.

The world around him blurred and curved, then the zoo was gone and the apartment was gone. The sky was dark blue, almost black, and it was evident that it was evening, almost night.

"I've gotta get home!" Tanjiro realized. He began running to the train station, noticing on the way that his clothes had returned to normal.

It took some time for the exhaustion to set in, but by the time Tanjiro got home, he was wiped. He shuffled through the door with his head down.

"Where have you been!?" his mother shouted, jumping up from the sofa. "I thought you'd been kidnapped too! You didn't answer any of my messages or calls! For goodness' sake, Tanjiro, I was about to call the police again."

Tanjiro yawned, a big one, before he could speak. "Sorry..." he mumbled.

"What happened!? Where were you?"

"... -wouldn't get it..." Tanjiro said, before yawning again. "I'm going to bed." He started ambling to his room.

"Hey! Come back here and explain this to me!" shouted his mom. He ignored her and went to sleep.

Tanjiro awoke on cool glass, looking up at cushiony blue walls. He sat up to see a desk with a tall candle burning in the center. There was some wax dripping down.

A man with a purple, veiny forehead sat behind the desk. Two girls stood on either side. Their hair was shoulder-length and evenly cut like the man's, but was white instead of black. They wore flowery kimonos and red lipstick.

'This place seems familiar' Tanjiro thought. 'The... Velvet Room, right? How did I forget?' He stood up, and realized he was wearing his biker outfit from the palace.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room," said the man, who Tanjiro remembered was named Ubuyashiki. "At last, you've awakened to your power. Not only that, but you've already found allies to align yourself with. Wonderful..."

"Um... W-Who are..." Tanjiro drifted off, pointing at the two girls.

"These are my daughters, Hinika and Nichika," said Ubuyashiki. "Like myself, they are residents of this place."

The two girls bowed. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," they said in unison.

"Right..." said Tanjiro.

"You needn't worry about them, they are here to assist me," said Ubuyashiki. "I am here to guide you on your journey. Observe this candle."

Tanjiro approached the desk.

"This candle symbolizes the progress of your journey. Does it not appear to glow brighter than when you first appeared?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah," said Tanjiro. "Is it because I awakened my persona?"

"Precisely," said Ubuyashiki. "A persona is the true form of the heart, complete. When one masters it, their willpower drastically increases. Still, you won't be able to accomplish your goal alone. You must find accomplices who share your goals. Establish bonds with them, and strengthen those bonds to their utmost limit."

"Huh?" said Tanjiro. "But I've never really had friends before... How am I supposed to do that?"

"The time will come when you learn, but I cannot tell you," said Ubuyashiki. "You must discover that answer on your own."

"But-"

"Now is not the time," said Ubuyashiki. "I will assist you as the need arises. Now, return to your sleep. You have a busy time ahead of you."

As you may or may not have noticed, the first of Ubuyashiki's children I introduced in the Velvet Room were not Kiriya nor the younger twins, but the older twins. I believe they have a stronger bond to Ubuyashiki himself as they're with him to the end, whereas Kanata and Kuina spend more time in the story with Kiriya.

I used demons as shadows, as this is a fusion of the two worlds, and I couldn't bring myself to shove the shadows from the games in randomly. I kept the decapitation, but not every character is going to just have a katana. Tanjiro's black katana is just too iconic of him, though.

Godfrey of Bouillon was a French noble and leader of the first crusade. Making that persona a crusader itself may be lacking in subtlety, but I'm writing this story for fun anyway. Hope you're enjoying.