Lucina woke up at the sound of knocking coming from outside her door. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to stir her from her sleep.

Pushing the mattress off, she let out a quiet yawn and took a moment to stretch her arms.

A smile graced her lips and she turned her attention towards the door. "I'm awake now," Lucina said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Her voice was low—no louder than a gust of wind—but it was enough for whoever was at the other side to hear.

"It's six in the morning," a voice said, and she recognized the owner as Sojiro. "The shop doesn't open in at least a few hours, but there's a couple of things I need to show you. Meet me there once you get dressed, alright? I'll make you breakfast."

A moment passed and she heard him walk away.

I suppose it's about time I get up.

The young princess pushed herself out of the bed, revealing her petite yet well-toned body. Her long, slim legs poked out of the covers and her body laid exposed, dressed in nothing else but her undergarments.

Now that she wasn't sharing a room, she no longer had to worry about being seen dressed indecently, so she had more space for herself. The room wasn't that much bigger in size and was perhaps even smaller than the attic at the cafe, but it was more than enough to move around freely.

Her eyes landed on the folded set of clothes that rested next to her sword.

Her brow furrowed slightly at the sight. Her clothes weren't dirty, but she will need to wash them sooner or later. She didn't have any other garments or items that she could wear, so that could prove to be a problem.

The first thing that came to mind was to ask Ren for help in finding a market where she could get more clothes, though she was aware that that idea will have to wait for another time.

There were still things that needed to be done, and it would be better to not keep the Boss waiting for too long.

Chapter 4: Back in Business

"Are you seriously expecting to serve customers while dressed like that?" Sojiro looked at her clothes up-and-down with an incredulous look.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lucina asked.

Sojiro sighed tiredly and headed to the back of the kitchen. "Just... hold on a second. I'll get you something."

She didn't understand what exactly was the problem. Maybe there was a cultural difference that she wasn't aware of? There was no easy way for her to tell. She was wearing her usual battle garb, but she didn't think that to be out of the ordinary.

Maybe the sword was the problem?

She tried to conceal Falchion as best as she could, but it was still hard not to miss considering its length. This could turn out to be a problem. If that was the case, then she couldn't possibly consider leaving it alone in her room without any form of protection. Falchion was too valuable to be left unguarded.

"Here, take this." When Sojiro came back he handed her an apron. "This should at least help you look like you actually work here."

Lucina gave the piece of material a long look. "You want me to wear this?"

"That's right," Sojiro said with impatience. "Now hurry up and put it on. We don't have all day."

Without any further objections, Lucina did as she was told and carefully put the red material above her clothes. It was a little loose for her liking, but she didn't think that it looked bad on her—she was simply not used to this sort of thing.

"Morning." Lucina turned to see Ren come down the stairs, only to stop and stare at her. "You look good in that."

"Th-there's hardly any difference to what I usually wear," she tried to deny with a deep blush. "And… and good morning to you as well."

He shook his head. "It compliments you well."

Lucina was about to retort, but saw Morgana crawl on top of one of the stools and said, "Just take the compliment. He isn't lying when he says that it looks good on you."

She conceded with a sigh, if not somewhat reluctant. "Th-thank you."

Ren merely returned her reply with a satisfied smile.

"I see you're already up. Good," Sojiro said the moment he saw him. He put down two freshly-made plates of curry on the bar. "Now eat before it gets cold."

The frizzy-haired teen responded with a thankful nod while Lucina replied with a short "thank you" before she too sat down. The two of them ate in a comfortable silence for the following minutes while Sojiro continued to work in the kitchen, preparing everything that needed to be done for the day.

A thought then crossed Lucina's mind and she remembered her conversation with Sojiro from the other day—about Ren's current circumstances. Stealing a glance his way, she debated whether or not it was a good time to bring that up. Considering what Sojiro told her, she was sure that it must be a difficult subject for him to talk about, so perhaps now wasn't the most appropriate of times.

Lucina noticed how quiet the place was. It probably had something to do with how early it was, but it still felt kind of nice. It seemed like a good place for one to sit around and rest, where one could easily get lost in the atmosphere.

"We are planning to go to Mementos today." Ren suddenly broke the silence. "We're going to be searching for clues about your friends. I was hoping that you could join us."

She spared Sojiro a brief look. The shop-owner was far too busy to listen to their conversation. Ren has probably been waiting for an opportunity to bring this up.

"Of course," she answered without a second thought. "It would be improper of me to not be involved in a personal matter such as this."

"That settles it then," Ren said. "Morgana will stay here. He will tell you where to find us after school."

With that said, the two finished their meals and went their separate ways.

The next couple of hours were spend learning what she needed in order to carry out her newly assigned duties. Work consisted mostly in washing dishes, taking out the trash and cleaning tables—some pretty basic stuff.

"Hey kid, here." Sojiro gestured to a pair of cups. "Take this to the couple on the second table."

"Just a moment!" Lucina quickly replied.

Drying her hands, she moved to get a pair of freshly-made cups of coffee. When she brought them to an elderly couple, the lady's eyes landed on Lucina. "Oh my, aren't you just beautiful? You remind me of myself when I was about your age."

At the compliment, Lucina returned a small smile. "That's very kind of you."

"You know, I should bring my grandson next time. He's quite handsome and I'm sure you two would get along just fine," she said. "I tell you, he's the sweetest boy you'll ever know."

Her words caught the blue-haired princess off guard. "I… I appreciate the gesture, but I don't think that's much of a good idea, I…"

"Don't go bothering the young girl, dear," the elderly man in the table said, to which the woman simply laughed. Shaking his head, he turned to address Sojiro. "I see that you finally decided to follow my advice and got someone to help you around, Sakura-san"

Sojiro suppressed an annoyed a grunt. "It's nothing like that."

The old man chuckled. "I told you that you were getting old."

"Yeah, yeah. Just try not to bother the kid, okay? She still has a lot of work to do," Sojiro said while waving his hand dismissively.

Pushing her embarrassment aside, Lucina gave Sojiro a thankful nod and responded with a brief "excuse me" before she got back to work.

Lucina spend following hours mostly cleaning and attending more customers. There were lots of things to do around, but most of them weren't really that hard and were fairly easy to handle thanks to Sojiro's guidance.

It all continued like this until the time to meet the others finally came.

Take Your Time

"I don't think I'll… ever get used to this." Lucina took a deep breath, suppressing the nauseous feeling that came from her throat.

The sensation that she felt running through her body upon entering Mementos was incredibly disorienting. The sudden shift in the scenery was by no means little. It felt as if she was thrown from one place to another without actually moving at all.

It was… unnatural.

A hand landed on her shoulder, and her eyes met those of Ren—who was once again dressed in his phantom thief outfit. "Just give it some time," he reassured her.

Morgana, now back in his other form, then spoke up, "Usually whenever we use the MetaNav we don't feel any different, but taking into account how big the distortion here really is, it's not surprising to see you being affected by it, especially if we put into consideration that you don't have a Persona."

Lucina furrowed her brow. "A Persona?"

"That's that crazy power that we use whenever we come into the Metaverse," Ryuji answered. Both he and Ann were back in their phantom thief outfits too. "Mine is pretty cool—it's literally a flyin' pirate that can shoot lighting out of a canon that can wreck bad guys left and right!"

Ann let out an exasperated sigh. "Please excuse Skull, he gets easily excited," she said. "We can show you our Personas, but it'll be best to wait until we reach the deeper levels since we have to conserve our energy as much as possible."

Lucina blinked, but nonetheless agreed with the overall plan. "I have to ask though. Are these Personas that you speak of related to the intensive names that you use to call each other?"

She's been meaning to ask this question for a while now. Their names; Skull. Panther. Mona. Joker. Lucina was fairly sure that those weren't common names that someone would simply use for no reason. They all had to mean something.

"You bet! Aren't they cool?" Mona asked with a grin. "One of our rules is to call each other by code names whenever we are operating as a team!"

Joker shook his head at Mona's choice of phrasing. "We call each other by code names when in missions so our enemies wont discover our real identities," he explained. "They might sound cool, but their use is mainly for practical reasons."

"I guess that makes sense," Lucina said in understanding. "And what about your outfits? Are they also an attempt to deceive your enemies? Because I must say, they're quite…" Her eyes glimmered with excitement. "…astonishing."

Ann grumbled to herself, "It really wasn't my choice to-wait, excuse me?"

"Astonishing?" Joker inquired with a raised brow.

"That's right." Lucina smiled. "I can't help but admire such lustrous wardrobe. The handiwork and the texture of the material is so unique and different to anything that I have seen before. I myself wouldn't mind having one of my own."

"Well, they look cool, but they're far more than simple aesthetics. They are the manifestation of our rebellious spirit, which protects us from distortions." Mona explained. "You remember those things that we saw lurking in the tunnels the other day, right? We call those things Shadows. You could say that they're emotions that have taken shape in order to feed from those same distortions."

"Then those outfits really are more than what they seem." Lucina considered this new piece of information. "And what about these Shadows you mentioned? Are they dangerous?"

"Very, but as long as we don't get too close or attack them, they'll leave us alone for the most part, but then again, we can't let our guard down even once. Whatever the case, let's all get down to business and go over our objective one last time," Mona spoke up, taking place at the center of the group. "All right listen up, like we said before, the plan is to go back to where we first found Lucina and look for any clues that can tell us anything about her missing friends. Is everyone aboard with that?"

Panther looked on with a determined look. "Absolutely."

"You bet," Skull said with a thumbs up. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Joker didn't say a word and merely responded with a silent nod. The look in his eyes however, gave enough insight on how determined he was. No longer did she had any lingering doubts at how serious this illustrious band of thieves was, as their desire to help her was truly authentic.

She felt a warm sensation run inside her small chest. "I… I thank you all for this. I am truly grateful to all of you." A small smile adorned her face while she said that. "I promise that your kindness will not go unrewarded."

"C'mon now, we ain't lookin' for a reward or anything," Skull said, feeling embarrassed.

"Y-yeah." Panther laughed awkwardly. "As long as we find your friends, helping you out is more than enough for us."

"I agree with Panther," Mona said. "It would go against my principles as a gentleman to ignore a fair maiden in her hour of need."

They were all ready to move out, but Joker halted when he saw Lucina stop in mid-step. Wondering what that was about, he reduced the distance between them. They're gonna be left behind if they don't catch up to the others.

"Is something the matter?"

"I'm sorry but…" Lucina struggled to find the correct words. "Who's that girl?"

Raising a questioning brow, Joker followed her gaze and saw Justine standing next to the entrance of the Velvet Room. He has noticed the twins standing by the jail door before, but decided not to address them when in front of the others—or else he'll have a hard time explaining what he's doing talking to empty air or why he's spacing out for whole minutes without moving.

What was surprising however, was the fact that Lucina was able to see the small attendant despite the others inability to do the same. As far as he can remember, he's been the only one whose been able to see them until now.

What does this all mean? he wondered.

The young thief couldn't help but internally debate over the implications of Lucina being able to see the Velvet Room's attendant and the entrance to the room itself.

"I'l explain it to you later," he murmured. He spoke loudly enough for her to hear without the others listening. "Let's move on for now. We still have a job to do."

Lucina wanted to protest, but after a moment of consideration she nodded in acceptance.

She followed after Joker, giving the young girl one final glance—which was returned by the emotionless gaze of her uncovered right eye—before moving after the thieves, leaving the mysterious blue door behind.

Take Your Time

The ride through the bloody-red tunnels that made up Mementos was silent.

So far they have chosen to avoid combat as much as possible in favor of saving their strength and focus their efforts in reaching their objective without delay.

From the backseat of the currently-transformed Morgana, Lucina spend most of the journey looking outside the window, watching the walls turn more sinister and darker the more they delved deeper into the tunnels.

Her eyes wandered around for a second and eventually landed on Joker—who was currently on the wheel. His eyes remained fixed on the way ahead, unflinching and completely stoic as he drove the carriage-like Morgana.

The thief was acting more serious and reserved.

She didn't realized at first, but after spending the last couple of days together, she had a better grasp of Ren's character, or at least that's what she first believed. The sudden shift in personality was so drastic that it felt like she was seeing a completely different person.

"You okay there, Lucina?" Panther asked, having noticed how quiet she was.

"It's… nothing important," she said. "I'm merely surprised by how drastic the change in Re-I mean, Joker's behavior is. I find the shift in personality quite alarming."

Joker looked at her meaningfully, eyebrow raised.

"You mean this guy?" Skull asked, gesturing at the frizzy-haired thief. "Hehe, I can't blame you for that. I mean, nothin´ fazes him. He's so chill, no matter what happens," he said. "It's actually kinda scary at times."

Panther then added. "Yeah, I'd probably have to agree on that one. At first I thought he was kinda dull as he barely spoke a word when we first met, but seeing him act all cool and stuff was actually quite the shock."

Lucina heard Mona chuckle. "That's only to he expected," he explained. "Awakening your Persona also means accepting your true self. Everyone has repressed feelings that they want to hide from the rest of society, and Joker has long embraced that hidden side of him."

She turned her attention to the leader in question. "Have you always been like that?" she asked. "Its honestly hard to imagine that you were hiding this side of you the whole time."

Joker shrugged. He didn't have a straight answer that he could give.

Upon awakening his Persona, the change in his personality was a surprise to him as well, but one that he wasn't afraid to show. It could be true that this side of him had always laid dormant for most of his life, but he honestly didn't thought that it was worth thinking too much about it.

"Hey guys, heads up," Mona announced as they began to slow down. "We're almost there."

Take Your Time

The first thing Lucina noticed as soon as they arrived was how the place didn't look anywhere near to how she remembered it. The difference was such that she even questioned if this was the same location.

Mona shook his head and explained, "Mementos changes its shape constantly. The layout of the tunnels are hardly ever the same, so it is pretty easy to get lost if you don't know your way around."

"So its like this place is…" Realization hit her as she found herself at a lost for words. "…this place is alive?"

"In a way," Mona responded. "Mementos is the core of everyone's hearts, so you're not that far off the mark."

Lucina felt disturbed by this answer. It was already unnerving to think that such an immense place existed, but to think that it was alive was a terrifying prospect. "And how far does it even go?" she asked, though she feared for the answer.

"We don't really know for sure," Panther answered. "It could be limitless for all we know."

A wave of fear struck the blue-haired princess; but it was not for her, but for her companions.

She was lucky the group of thieves found her when they did, but could the same be said for the rest of her friends? What if they were send somewhere even deeper and dangerous, surrounded by nothing but enemies? How could she forgive herself if any of her friends got killed because of her negligence and failure to find them?

How could she look at herself in the mirror and ask for forgiveness for letting them all die?

How could she–?

"Guys," Joker called them, getting Lucina out of her thoughts. "I think I found something."

Using his Third Eye, Joker inspected the ground next to the rusty subway tracks.

There were footprints running across the tunnel.

It was hard to spot at first glance, but these wasn't the kind of work the topical Shadow would leave behind, but from something else. These were from something heavier and bulkier. Not something that you would find in the first levels of Mementos as far as he was concerned.

The line was also strictly straight, which lead deeper into the tunnels. The Shadows they have encountered so far have always moved without a sense of direction, but these were definitely heading somewhere.

"I found some footprints, but these were definitely not made by a Shadow."

Everyone, including Lucina, gave him a puzzled look. "Not made by a Shadow? How can you tell?" Skull was the one to voice the question everyone had in mind.

"I have my methods," Joker said plainly as he stood up. "Just trust me on this one."

The Third Eye gave him the ability to spot small details that were beyond what the human eye could see, but he had no way to explain that to them—Igor's gifts were too complicated to tell the others, as even he didn't understood them completely either.

"I guess we better trust Joker on this one." Mona turned to face the rest of the team. "Whatever the case, we should probably head out and scout the level for more clues that–"

It happened so suddenly that nobody had time to react.

The ground shook harshly before black-like liquid began to pour out of the ground. Dark masses crawled all over the floor and began to take form. In an instant a number of different creatures appeared before them.

At first glance they look very different to Grima's monstrosities, but that didn't make them any less dangerous. The creatures came in many forms and shapes, nonetheless, one thing was made clear the moment she laid eyes on them; they were all enemies.

Mona readied his scimitar and prepared for battle. "Everyone, group up! We have Shadows incoming!"

She wasted no time to unsheath Falchion, ready to join the fray alongside the thieves, but Mona was quick to stop her. "Sorry Lucina, but you're gonna have to sit this one out."

Lucina squinted her eyes. "I can fight too."

The small thief shook his head and responded, "We know you can, but without a Persona of your own, there's not much you can do that can harm them, so let us handle."

"Mona is right," Panther said as she readied her whip. "Just let us do the fighting for now."

"Yeah, we'll make quick work of them in no time!" Skull announced with a brash tone.

Lucina was apprehensive. She had neither the intention nor the desire of letting them fight while she stood on the sidelines to watch. She may be a princess, but she was also a warrior at heart. Letting others fight for her was not in her nature.

If there were foes to be vanquished, then she would do her absolute best to assist them.

However, her gaze crossed paths with Joker's and the look in his eyes made her stop.

She immediately knew what he was asking her. Joker wanted her to listen, but it was a difficult request to accept. She bit her lip and her hand trembled in a moment of hesitation. There was a small pause until she finally gave a response.

"…Very well," she conceded with a sour look, letting her hand rest by her side.

The leader of the thieves gave her a meaningful look and nod before turning his attention back to the enemy.

"It's show time!"

The battle broke out without warning. In an instant Joker was upon the enemy and slashed his blade across the stomach of a devil-like creature. The monster wailed in pain before it vanished in a black liquid.

Joker's initiative was all it took for everyone else to spring into action.

"All right! Come at me, losers!" Skull cried out, blasting a menacing-looking owlman right in the face when it got too close, but he was too distracted to see another Andras preparing to attack him from behind.

The blond was fortunately saved by a lashing whip. "Now isn't the time to be careless, Skull!" Panther growled angrily as she worked to keep the rest of the enemies at bay.

"Dammit," he cursed at his own mistake. "S-sorry!"

The group was rather versatile—Lucina could see that. They worked quite well when it came not only to combat, but also in covering each other's weaknesses. She was Honestly impressed by their level of coordination and teamwork.

"Time for my Persona!" Mona called out as he summoned an imposing masked figure that blew the enemies away with a Garu spell. "Give me a hand, Panther!"

"Right!"

The two gave each other a high five before she took position. "Do it with style, Carmen!" she said, calling forth a crimson entity that casted Agi on the same area as Mona.

Combining their fire and wind spells for a major effect resulted in a much more powerful attack that created an enormous explosion. Any of the Shadows that got caught up in the blast disappeared without a trace.

"Excellent work, Panther!" Mona celebrated with a lovestruck look.

The blond thief smiled and responded, "Thanks, but there's still a bunch of them left."

Having just witnessed the two ethereal forms appear and disappear before her eyes, Lucina had no idea what to make of what she just saw. "Is… is that the power they talked about?" She mumbled in amazement. "…is that a Persona?"

The entity that both Ann and Morgana summoned had a frightening aura of strength. That thing had far more power than any mage or sorcerer that she knows. To think that each of the thieves wielded such powers was terrifying to think about.

Watching them fight off the horde of Shadows, Lucina's battle-hardened sense of awareness allowed her to see an enemy that was trying to sneak behind Joker—who was too busy fighting another Shadow to see it coming.

A demonic-looking horse took form behind him and was ready to strike him. There was no time to warn him. She didn't realize that her body began to move without thinking and dashed forward in an impressive display of speed.

"L-Lucina, wait…!" Mona's voice didn't reach her, and much to his own shock, the Shadow was cleaved in half in an instant.

Falchion shone brightly with power as she landed in a crouched position next to a surprised Joker.

Everyone had to take a step back when they saw Lucina effortlessly defeat the Shadow without even possessing a Persona. They were all in complete shock—even Joker was stunned by this.

It was hard to believe that despite her petite body, she still had more than enough strength to move in such way. He recalled seeing parts of her well-toned body the previous night, but he didn't thought that she would be capable of performing such an impressive feat.

As the Kelpie laid defeated on the ground and disappeared, both Joker and Lucina shared a look. No words were said nor needed to understand what the other was thinking. The two nodded to each other and took their stances, ready to fight side by side.

What fallowed next left the rest of the thieves in complete awe. Lucina fought, cutting down enemies left and right with ease alongside Joker. Neither of the thieves had any objections to have her join the fray. She had already proved them wrong for underestimating her abilities.

Mona was still shocked to see that the girl could fight the Shadows despite not having a Persona herself. This girl sure is full of surprises.

Her technique. Her style. They were all blown away by her perfect form. Everyone was hypnotized by Lucina's beautiful swordsmanship and fighting style. Her battle-prowess was on a different level. Even Skull was left dumbfounded.

"That's a grip..." The blond said, mouth agape.

Joker had to agree with his friend. He was observing Lucina, watching they way she moves with full confidence. Her manner of fighting and the way she began to lead the charge gave off the presence of a born leader. In a way, it reminded him a little of himself whenever he entered the Metaverse.

Joker was sure that he would have been staring at Lucina's mesmerizing sight for far longer had he not been in the middle of a fight, but that didn't prevent him from stealing glances at her way every now and then.

The way her azure locks trembled with every thrust of her sword. The way her breath grew heavier while she kept herself in control of each movement. There were no wasted opportunities. There was no hesitation. Her form was simply perfect.

The frizzy-haired thief already considered Lucina as probably one of the most beautiful girls that he has met, but now he wasn't completely sure if that description did her justice anymore. She was both graceful and elegant—nothing less than gorgeous.

"G-guys, look out!" His train of thought came to an abrupt halt when Mona called out to them. "There's a powerful Shadow coming our way!"

While their combined efforts were able to reduce the number of Shadows significantly, the presence of a stronger Shadow was enough to put everyone on edge. They were all prepared by the time loud footsteps echoed across the tunnels and a dark figure with bloody-red eyes came out of the dark.

When the figure revealed itself, everyone realized that it wasn't a Shadow, but one of those horrifying zombie-like creatures that they fought the other day.

Panther shrieked. "Th-this thing again?!"

"What the eff?!" Skull cursed at the sight.

Joker's eyes narrowed behind his mask, but remained silent as he readied his knife upon sensing the dangerous aura that came out of the creature.

Lucina on the other hand felt her blood run cold at the all too familiar sight of one of the monsters that destroyed her world. The blue-haired princess knew exactly what that thing was: It was one of Grima's Twelve Demon Generals—a Deadlord.

Chapter End

Confidant: Lucina

Arcana: Aeon

Rank 2

A time-traveler from a far land seeking to change the future. She and her companions traveled through time by unknown means and got separated.

A warrior from another time. You're currently helping her search for her missing allies. She is aware of your identity as a Phantom Thief and seems to trust you. She's staying at the Sakura residence.

Hello everyone and thank you so much for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I know it took me a lot of time to release this, but it was rather hard to write this one, not sure why. Hopefully I'd be able to release the next one sooner.

Either way, I appreciate anyone who took the time to get this far into the story. You're awesome! If you have any ideas, suggestions or criticism, please be sure to share it with me. Constructive criticism is more than welcome, so helpful opinions are always welcomed!

With that said, I wish you all a wonderful day and stay safe!