5/9 Monday
"Geez, this place is crowded!" Ryuji observed.
They had arrived at the art exhibition, only to find at least a hundred other people gazing at the large art gallery.
"I'm not exactly an expert on art, but I think these paintings do look pretty nice." Ren added.
"I just wonder where Yusuke is." Morgana muttered.
Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for Yusuke to find them himself.
"You came!" Yusuke said excitedly to her.
...Before turning towards the other and frowning.
"Oh. You two came as well." Yusuke muttered.
"If you didn't want us to come you shouldn't have given us tickets!" Ryuji snapped.
"Just make sure you don't disturb the other guests." Yusuke ordered, before turning to her with a smile. "Now, Niijima-san, I'd love to show you around and discuss my painting in more detail."
"Oh, thank you." she expressed. "I'd love to learn more about Madarame and his paintings."
"Of course." Yusuke smiled. "Follow me."
As the two of them (and Morgana) walked off, Ryuji let out a loud groan.
"Urgh, do we really need to appreciate the 'fine arts'?" Ryuji asked. "Can't we just go home?"
"We still need to learn about Madarame." Ren reminded him.
"I guess…" Ryuji sighed as the two of them started touring the gallery.
It wasn't long until they saw an old, robed man giving an interview.
"That must be our guy." Ryuji grinned.
"You have such a wide variety of styles." the interviewer gushed. "It's hard to believe that it all comes from one person. Where does all of your inspiration come from."
"Hmm… how to put this into words?" the old man wondered. "I would say… that they well up from within my heart, like bubbles rising on after another in the spring."
"Gimme a break." Ryuji scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"What's important is that I distance myself from such worldly desires such as money and fame. My atelier is but a modest shack, but it is enough to pursue true beauty."
"Still had enough money for private security." Ren muttered.
"Yeah… and if didn't care for fame, he sure wouldn't be doin' interviews and hosting an art gallery." Ryuji muttered.
"I see… emptying your mind of worldly desires is the key. But I didn't expect you to describe your own atelier as a shack!" the interview giggled.
Seeing a crowd of people swarming towards Madarame, Ren quickly pulled Ryuji aside, the two of them walking towards the exit.
"Damn, there are way too many people here." Ryuji muttered. "There's no way we'll be finding anything now!"
"Hopefully Makoto has some better luck."
"Incredible… Madarame really mastered all these styles?" Makoto asked.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Yusuke asked. "Most artists, even master artists, focus on only one style, but Madarame is able to master and create art of all these styles."
Although she wasn't exactly an expert on art, she found that… unusual.
"Ah, Yusuke, there you are."
The two teens turned around, seeing Madarame approaching them.
"Sensei!" Yusuke greeted. "This is the muse I told you about. I was showing her around.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir." she greeted, maintaining her manners despite her suspicions.
"Ah, you must be Niijima-san!" Madarame smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear. Are you enjoying the exhibit?"
"Immensely so, sir." she answered. "There's such a wide variety of artwork, and yet it's all so… well, it's impossible to describe it in just one word."
"That you find enjoyment in my paintings fills me with satisfaction." Madarame smiled. "Oh, but I don't mean to interrupt your little tour. Please, excuse me."
"He's quite friendly, isn't he." she said as he walked off.
"Indeed." Yusuke agreed.
As they continued their tour, she stopped in front of one painting, the bright red and orange colors catching her eye. On future inspection, she saw greens on the side, and blue beneath the red and orange.
What was it? A forest fire? The dawn of a new day? She wasn't sure, but…
"This painting… the colors feel… wild, uncontrollable. Was the painter… angry? Frustrated?" she thought aloud.
"Ah… that painting…" Yusuke grimaced.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"... Don't mind me." Yusuke muttered. "C-Come, follow me. There are… much better pieces than this one."
She certainly found his behavior odd. Almost as if he didn't want her looking at the painting…
Making sure no one was looking, she quickly snapped a photo of the painting on her phone before following Yusuke.
As she left, she saw Ren and Ryuji right outside.
"You find anything out?" Ren asked.
"Not much." she admitted. "Yusuke really didn't want me to look at this painting though."
She showed them the photo.
"Why didn't he want you to see it?" Ren asked.
"I don't know." she said. "But it might be important.
"What did you two find?" Morgana asked.
"We saw Madarame conducting an interview." Ren said. "He said that he wanted to stay away from fame and fortune, but he had that private security, and he's holding this big event and giving interviews."
"That is odd, but we still don't have much to go on…" she sighed.
"Wait, hang on, I remembered something!" Ryuji yelled, pulling out his phone. "I was looking through the Phan-Site earlier, and I found this request."
He showed them his phone, and the anonymous request on it.
A master of the Japanese arts is plagiarizing his pupil's work. He acts humble on TV, but it's all an act. He treats his pupils awfully. He doesn't teach. He only bosses them around. He doesn't even treat them like they're human.
"Abuse and plagiarism, hm?" Morgana commented.
"I did find it a little strange that he had mastered so many different styles." Ren said.
"This has to be talkin' about Madarame!" Ryuji claimed. "Man, talk about a huge scandal!"
"Could Kitagawa-kun have posted this?" Ren asked.
"Maybe, but Madarame's had plenty of pupils." she brought up. "I suppose that we'll just have to see what Yusuke has to say about this."
"So you're going through with the modeling?" Ren asked.
She nodded. "He lives at Madarame's atelier. He gave me the address, and his cellphone number."
"So, we'll all meet up there after school!" Ryuji grinned.
After finalizing their plan, they went their separate ways for the day.
5/10 Tuesday
"Oh come on! The train's even more crowded than the gallery!" Ryuji complained.
The train had been completely packed today, and Ryuji had been the only one able to snag a seat, while Ren and herself had to deal with the crowd pushing them around.
"Well, hopefully we'll get to our destination so-AH!"
The train had grown even more crowded, causing someone to bump into Ren, causing him to collide into Makoto.
"A-AH!" she cried, her back pressing into the wall of the train.
Before she knew what was going on, she realized that her and Ren's bodies were pressed together, their faces inches apart.
"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ren panicked. "I-I can't move at all!"
"I-It's ok." she muttered. "L-Let me just try…"
She tried to adjust herself, slowly turning around and trying to free up some space for the two of them…
Only for someone to bump into Ren again, making him press into her back.
"A-Ah!"
She let out a gasp as he was pushed into her harder.
"S-Sorry." Ren repeated. "S-So sorry…"
"I-It's f-fine." she assured him. "I-I-It's not your fault."
Ren looked around the train, trying to find any space for him to move to.
"Um… Ren?"
"Y-Yeah, Makoto?"
"R-Ren, could you empty your pockets?"
"W-What?! M-My pockets are empty!"
"T-Then what's poking me?"
Ren gulped.
"Shit… Ok. don't think about Makoto… think of old people! Like Sojiro!" Ren rapidly thought.
"Hoooooooo boy." Sojiro echoed in his head.
"DAMN IT! IT'S NOT WORKING!" Ren screamed in his head. "Ok… maybe… think of food instead. Like curry or..."
He glanced at Ryuji, completely obvious to their situation, his attention fully focused on the hot dog he was eating.
"That's right, Ren. Think about the hot dog." he encouraged himself. "Think of the long, thick meat in between two… soft…buns…
Long, thick meat.
Between two… soft… buns.
"R-Ren, are you sure your pockets are empty?!"
"T-They are, I swear!"
Thankfully, the train ride ended soon afterwards, allowing them to escape their awkward situation.
"Well, that was, uh… a very pressing situation, huh?" Ren nervously chucked.
"Y-Yeah…" she whispered.
Why on Earth was her heart beating so fast? She hoped that she wasn't getting sick.
"I-I'm still really, really, sorry." he insisted.
"Ren, really, it's fine." she stressed. "I trust you."
"T-Thanks…" Ren trailed off.
"Hey, what's up with you two?" Ryuji wondered. "Ain't we goin' to that shack?"
"Oh, right!" she recalled. "Just follow me."
She led them all to Madarame's shack, ringing the bell.
"Who is it?" Yusuke asked from inside. "If you're looking for my Sensei, Madarame is currently busy."
"It's me, Makoto Niijima." she greeted.
"I'll be right out!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"Geez, he's really excited about this." Ren muttered.
They heard the sound of something rushing on the other side of the door.
"Niijima-san!" Yusuke greeted. "I wasn't expecting you so soon."
"There… was something that I wanted to discuss with you." she confessed.
"About the modeling?" Yusuke asked.
"We ain't here about the modeling." Ryuji said. "We heard that Madarame's been abusing and plagiarizing his students. That true?"
She let out a wince. That wasn't subtle at all.
"What did you say?" Yusuke muttered, narrowing his eyes.
"We read about it online." Ryuji told him, showing his phone.
Yusuke glanced at the phone for a few moments, shaking his head before bursting into a dramatic fit of laughter.
"Preposterous!" Yusuke declared. "Not only is the claim of plagiarism outrageous, but abuse as well?! Sensei welcomes his students into his own home! That is not abuse!"
Ryuji frowned. "Yeah, but-"
"I am the one who's living under his roof and studying under him!" Yusuke shouted. "And I say none of that is happening!"
"Well maybe you're lying!" Ryuji claimed.
"Ryuji!" Ren hissed.
"I had no family when Sensei took me in. If you continue to insult and slander the man I owe my life to, you will rue this day!"
"Thankfully, before an altercation could start, Madarame approached them from inside the shack.
"What's wrong, Yusuke? I heard shouting."
"These people were slandering you with baseless rumors!" Yusuke yelled.
"You must forgive them, Yusuke." Madarame told him. "They must have heard some concerning rumors, and were worried about their friend's safety."
"...Understood, sensei." Yusuke relented.
"I do have to ask that you keep things down." Madarame requested. "I do have neighbors around."
As Madarame went back into his shack, Yusuke gave a small bow.
"I apologize. That was… discourteous of me." Yusuke said.
"No, no, I understand." she said. "Hopefully we can put this whole thing behind us."
"Wait, for real?!" Ryuji asked, only for Ren to quickly calm him down.
"It's just… it's impossible for the artist that created the Sayuri to have done something so horrible.
"The Sayuri?" Ren asked.
Yusuke pulled out his phone, showing a picture of the painting to them.
It was actually her first time seeing the Sayuri, and it certainly was impressive.
It was a simple painting of an elegant looking woman, but the lower half of the painting seemed to be obscured, giving it an air of mystery.
"That's incredible…" Ren whispered.
"I ain't really an expert of fine arts, but even I can tell this is amazing…" Ryuji added.
"Niijima-san, I believe that painting you will allow me to express the same passion that my sensei expressed when he painted the Saiyuri." Yusuke told her. "Please, consider my offer."
"I have exams for the next few days." she informed him. "But after my exams are over, I'd still like to be your muse."
"Thank you." Yusuke smiled. "I'll be looking forward to it."
As Yusuke went back inside, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"They didn't seem like bad people." she whispered.
"Maybe… those two thieves were talkin' about another Madarame." Ryuji guessed.
"They were laid off." Morgana brought up. "It's possible that they're biased."
"... Hang on." Ren said. "What about the MetaNav?"
"Oh, that's a good point." she realized. "Let's enter in his name."
Ren did just that, entering Madarame's full name into the MetaNav."
Match not found.
"Huh… guess we were wrong then." Ren shrugged.
Just when they were about to give up, however, she recalled something Takayo had told her.
"Hold on… Ren, what did you enter?" she asked.
"Ichiryusai Madarame." Ren said. "Don't think I made a typo."
"Can you… try to enter Ichitaro Madarame?" she asked.
Ryuji looked confused, while Morgana's eyes widened in realization.
"Oh, of course!" Morgana exclaimed.
Ren seemed confused, but went along with her request.
Match Found.
"Seriously?" Ren gasped.
"I didn't think it would end up being important, but apparently, Ichitaro is his real name. Ichiryusai is just a pen name, I suppose."
"So, there is a match!" Morgana yelled. "But what about the keywords?"
"Well, we need the location, right?" Ren asked. "Sooo…. His atelier?"
No candidates found.
"Wait, he called it a shack, right?" Ryuji said.
A small ding from Ren's phone alerted them.
"Looks like that's it!" Morgana cheered. "Now, just one more. What does he see this world as?
"It's probably something to do with art, so… a gallery?" Ryuji guessed.
"Or an exhibit?" Ren added.
No candidate found.
"Then… an art museum?" she guessed.
Beginning Navigation.
"W-Woah, you got it." Ryuji gasped.
"Get ready everyone." she ordered.
Once again, they found themselves getting sucked into the other world…
No longer were they in front of an old, dingy shack, but instead, a tall, golden museum stood before them."
In front of the museum stood several golden statues of Madarame, and a large line of people waiting to get inside.
"Well, it's fancy… if a bit gaudy." Ren commented.
"Holy shit… the shack transformed into this?!" Ryuji gasped.
"This is just how his palace manifests, like with Kamoshida." Morgana explained.
"So, um… is this another one of those castle places?" Skull asked.
"That's palace, bonehead." Mona jeered.
"I don't know guys, it looks more like a museum to me." Joker smirked.
"Smartass…" Mona grumbled.
As she looked for a way to get inside, she saw the twins beckoning her over.
"Hey inmate!" Caroline yelled. "Get over here! We have a job for you!"
Somewhat reluctantly, she walked over to the Velvet Room.
...Only for Caroline to kick her inside.
"Was that really necessary?" she groaned.
"You were going too slow, inmate!" Caroline snapped.
"We have a very important task for you." Justine told her.
"A… task?" she repeated.
"In order to develop your skills, we've assigned various tasks involving training and fusing Personas." Justine explained.
"Your first task is to get us a Jack Frost with Mabufu." Caroline commanded. "That should be easy even for you, inmate!"
"Wait… Jack Frost?" she questioned. "You mean that mascot character?"
"Mascot character?" Justine repeated.
"What are you talking about?!" Caroline explained.
"Jack Frost is really popular in, um… the outside world." she told them. "He has figures, plushies, keychains, toys, and tons of other merchandise."
Justine and Caroline stared at her with wide eyes before whispering amongst themselves.
This went on for about a minute before they both turned to face her.
"New plan, inmate!" Caroline declared. "After you bring us the Jack Frost, you're going to bring us somewhere that sells this merchandise.
She raised an eyebrow. "Do you…"
"It's not because I want one or anything, inmate!" Caroline quickly denied. "I just wanted to see how closely they match the Jack Frosts in the Metaverse."
"Then the two of you can come outside into the real world?" she asked.
"That is correct." Justine nodded.
She turned towards Igor. "Then, would you mind if I borrowed them for that in the future?"
"Not at all." Igor chuckled. "I told you to build up your bonds, did I not?"
"I see… well, I'll look for a Jack Frost in the palace, then." she promised. "In the meantime, are there any fusions I can perform?"
It looked like Queen had gone into that 'Velvet Room' or whatever. Trying to fill the void of silence, he tried to strike up a conversation with Skull.
"Say… Skull?" Joker muttered.
"Yeah, Joker?"
"Do you think… Kitagawa… likes Ma-er, Queen?" he asked.
"Huh? Where'd that come from?" Skull wondered.
"It's just… he seemed really enthusiastic to paint her and show her around the gallery." Ren said.
"Yeah, I guess so…" Ryuji shrugged. "I just think that's him bein' a weird artist or whatever. He probably only likes her as a muse or whatever."
"...Yeah. That must be it." Joker whispered.
"Why are you so curious about whether he likes her?" Ryuji wondered.
"Well… honestly, I don't know." Joker shrugged. "I've just… been having a weird feeling lately."
"You're probably just worried that he'll try somethin' strange with her." Ryuji said. "We just dealt with Kamoshida, so I get it. But that's why we're comin' with her to the modeling thing."
"...Yeah. That… must be the reason." Ren nodded. "That must be why…"
Makoto approached them then, trying to find a way around into the museum without standing in line.
"We can climb the walls and enter the museum from the roof." she told them.
"Sounds like a plan." Morgana nodded.
They deftly made their way over the walls and onto the roof, entering through an open skylight.
"It's really quiet in here…" Ryuji muttered.
"What now, Queen?" Ren asked.
"I…"
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"I just… I don't know." she muttered. "I'm still worried that Madarame might not be a bad person. He seemed like such a nice and humble person, and his own apprentice had nothing but good things to say about him."
"I get it. You're worried that we might be going after an innocent person." Ren assumed.
"Yes… I just want to be cautious… we have such strong powers, but we need to make sure it doesn't go to our heads." she admitted.
"Well… having a palace doesn't necessarily mean they've committed any crimes yet..." Mona said.
"So all we gotta do is find evidence, right?" Ryuji asked. "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go!"
Ryuji rushed ahead, leaving them behind.
"Skull, wait!" Makoto yelled, running after him.
It didn't take long for all of them to catch up to Ryuji, who had stopped in front of a painting.
"What the hell is this?" Skull gasped.
In front of them was a portrait of a woman with a black X over the woman in the portrait.
"Why is this person crossed out?" Ren wondered.
"I'm not sure… but now that I look at it closely, it sort of looks like the Sayuri." she noted.
"Yeah, you're right." Mona agreed. "I wonder why that is?"
"It looks like it's got a name under it." Makoto noticed. "Yua… Kitagawa?!"
"Kitagawa?!" Ryuji exclaimed. "Is this woman related to that Yusuke guy?!"
"She might be…" Ren muttered. "But it looks like she's not the only painting here."
Sure enough, there was an entire wall of paintings, each depicting a different person with a black X through them.
They eventually reached the end, spying a familiar face.
"This portrait… it's Kitagawa-kun?!" she gasped.
Sure enough, Yusuke's full name was printed below the painting itself.
"He's the only one without an X through his portrait." Morgana pointed out.
"That's true… but what does that mean?" she wondered.
"You think that all of these people were once Madarame's apprentices?" Joker asked.
"Maybe… let's see if there's anything else we can find." Queen ordered.
They passed by several pieces in the museum, each one going one about the piece, and praising Madarame for creating it. And in a giant circular room, they saw a golden statue of Madarame wearing simple robes and a shepherd's crook, with a plaque describing the piece.
She knelt down, reading the plaque out loud to the others.
A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds.
Little lost lambs, come to me, and I shall guide you.
Sacrifice your lives, your talent, your everything to me, so that I might achieve even greater heights.
Those who do not fulfill their duty to their master shall be cast aside.
"This… has to be about the plagiarism…" she muttered.
"He wants his own students to sacrifice everything to him?!" Skull snarled. "That's effed' up!
"He exhausts his students for all they're worth, and then tosses them aside." Joker frowned.
"So those pictures… they must be the students Madarame's already discarded." Mona said, narrowing his eyes. "And if we don't hurry, Yusuke will get led astray too!"
"He had to have already done somethin'!" Skull exclaimed. "Why didn't Yusuke say anything?!"
"He said that Madarame was the one who took him in… he must consider Madarame to be family." Queen whispered. "And… when it's someone who's taken care of you like that, you might feel the need to defend them, even if they don't always treat you right…"
A concerned look crossed Morgana's face. "Hey, Queen-"
"We should keep going!" she suddenly said.
"Shouldn't we confirm this with Yusuke first?" Morgana asked.
"We won't be seeing him for a few days." she argued. "We should make progress while we can."
"I suppose." Morgana relented, following her lead.
Thankfully, the palace security was very light, allowing them to sneak by while only fighting a small number of guards that helped to increase her stock of persona further.
They soon reached a room with several expensive looking artifacts on display.
"Ooooh, look how shiny they all are!" Morgana yelled, a gleam in his eyes. "Don't tell me you'll just pass by them?! Don't you think they'd sell for a lot?!"
Mona jumped up to a shiny vase in the middle of the room… which instantly set off an alarm, surrounding the vase with red lasers.
Instinctively, she jumped backwards, avoiding getting trapped by the lasers.
She saw that Ren tried to do a fancy flip out of the way… only to trip on his coat and fall…
"Ok… that seemed a lot cooler in my head." Ren sighed.
"What a showoff…" Mona scoffed.
"Can it, Mona!" Ryuji snapped. "We wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for you!"
"Alright, that's enough, you guys." she chided. "I'll look for a way to free you guys."
One by one, she freed the others by finding levers that brought down the lasers.
"Thanks for the help, Queen." Joker grinned. "Can't say I was expecting that."
"I can't believe I made such a rookie mistake." Mona sighed.
"Yeah, what gives?" Ryuji wondered. "You were acting like that when we found Kamoshida's crown, too."
"Do you think it has anything with your past?" she asked.
"I think that it must be! That's why I get so excited around treasure and distorted desires!" Morgana claimed. "Still… we'll all have to be more careful in the future. This palace has a lot tighter security than we thought."
"Who's there?!"
"Speaking of which…" Ren trailed off.
A security guard ran up to them, dissolving into ooze before reforming into…
"FOR REAL?!
"There's a shadow based on that…?"
"Just what I was looking for!"
Before them stood none other than Jack Frost, the persona the twins had asked her for.
"Hee ho! If you strike me down, my merchandising potential shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"
"I have just the thing!" she said, ignoring his odd threat. "Jack-O'-Lantern! Agi!"
She flung a fireball at the enemy, knocking it to the ground.
"I don't want to kill you." she assured the shadow. "I just want to-"
Jack Frost flung a stone at her, cutting her off.
"You think you're hot shit?!" the shadow said. "Then crush this rock with your bare ha-"
*Crack*
She effortlessly crushed the rock in her hands into dust.
"Any other requests?" she asked.
The shadow stood in stunned silence for a few moments before replying.
"Hee ho! Hee ho! I'm Jack Frost! Hee art ho, ho art hee! I'll be your hee homeboy from now on!"
She absorbed the power of Jack Frost, gaining a new mask in the process.
"All right, let's get moving." she ordered.
"...Remind me to never piss her off." Skull whispered as they left the room.
They soon entered another exhibition room, yellow and blue tiles decorating the walls. Inside there were several people walking around. Their bodies were devoid of any color, they had a dazed look in their eyes, and they appeared to be on the brink of starvation.
They all appeared to be working on paintings of a variety of different styles.
"This looks awful…" Mona muttered.
"Hold on… that painting over here looks familiar." she said, noticing a painting in the middle of the room.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was the same painting that she had seen at the exhibit."
"This painting… I remember that Kitagawa-kun acted very strange when I saw it at the exhibit." she brought up.
"Did someone call my name?"
The four thieves turned around, seeing Yusuke standing behind them.
"I was wondering if we'd see a cognitive version of him..." Mona said.
"Kitagawa-kun… did you make this painting?" she asked.
"I did. Why do you ask?" Yusuke wondered.
"Then what's it doing in Madarame's gallery?" Skull questioned.
"The student is to always follow the will of their master!" Yusuke declared. "I must give everything to Madarame, so that he will be recognized as the greatest artist in the world."
"He ain't no artist, he's a damn plagiarist!" Skull snapped.
"You can't let him keep abusing you like this!" Ren exclaimed.
"How dare you!" the cognitive Yusuke roared. "Guards! Remove these intruders!"
An electric fence shot out, blocking their exit, and several security guards ran out to capture them.
"Shit, we need to move!" Skull yelled.
They ran as fast as they could, striking down any security guards they came across. But whenever they took one down, two more took their place. Even if, individually, they were easy to take down, their numbers left them with very little supplies and spells remaining.
"This isn't good…" Joker muttered. "I probably only have about… one or two Eiha spells left…"
"Hey, over there!" Skull yelled. "It's a lever."
"That just might be our ticket out of here!" Mona exclaimed.
She nodded, pulling the lever, and sure enough, the electric fences came down.
"Ok. We'll keep going until the next safe room." she declared. "It should be close."
"Hmm… I think there's a Will Seed nearby too…" Mona mentioned.
"Then we'll keep an eye out for them." she said.
Sure enough, they quickly stumbled upon one of Madarame's will seeds.
"You think this will show us his past like with Kamoshida's will seeds?" Ryuji asked.
"I hope so." she replied. "We could use any additional insight we can get."
As soon as she picked up the will seed, she felt the world begin to morph around her.
They found themselves in an exhibition, similar to the one that Madarame was currently holding. At the exhibition was an older man… and a young boy around their age.
"That kid… is that Madarame?!" Morgana gasped.
"Ah… at least I got to take it easy on the last day of the exhibit." the older man sighed. "Thank you for helping, Ichitaro."
"Ichitaro… that's Madarame's actual first name…" she realized.
"There's no need for thanks." Madarame smiled. "It's my duty as your apprentice, sensei."
"Speaking of… about what we were talking about beforehand..." the older trailed off. "I have some connections to a man who works in television. When I told him about you, he expressed interest in sponsoring you. Making you famous, even."
Madarame sighed. "I should just reject their offer."
"Why? You could make plenty of money with this. This is the type of opportunity that artists dream of!" the man exclaimed.
"I became an artist to make art, not money." Madarame argued. "That has nothing to do with being a good artist."
"You used to be much more obedient." his sensei sighed. "You need this opportunity. You'll never become famous at your current skill level. Right now… you have little to no talent."
Madarame expression quickly became one of rage.
"What?!" Madarame snapped. "I'm your best student! I practice more and produce better results than all the others!"
"Look right here…" his sensei said, directing Madarame's attention to a gorgeous painting in the exhibition. "This was made by someone your age. Do you earnestly believe that you could create something of this caliber?"
Madarame didn't respond.
"You're still young… there are plenty of ways for you to be marketed to the public. Don't pass up the opportunity to become famous."
Madarame shook his head. "Making art just for fame and fortune… this isn't what I was taught. It seems that that the knowledgeable and kind sensei I once knew is no more."
"So, will you just learn by yourself?" his sensei asked. "As good of an artist as I am, I don't know if I would consider myself top-notch."
"I will!" Madarame declared, his expression brimming with determination. "I will reach the apex of the art world with my own skills!"
The vision ended there, and they found themselves back in the will seed room.
"Looks like Madarame used to be a whole different person." Skull muttered.
"I wonder what caused him to change…" Morgana wondered.
"I'm sure we'll find out soon." she told them. "Let's keep moving."
"Aw come on?! Again?!" Ryuji groaned.
Once again, they found their path blocked by more security measures.
Infrared lasers, to be exact.
And this time, there didn't seem to be any levers to bring them down.
"How the hell are we supposed to get past these?!" Skull asked.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Joker said, calling them over.
Joker showed them a sign that told them that the only way of disabling these lasers was in a security room beyond them.
"Then… is there no way through?" Ren wondered.
"I wonder if this has anything to do with Madarame's shack..." Morgana trailed off.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Sometimes, the place that represents our target's distortion can affect their palace." Morgana explained. "Maybe… there's a door in Madarame's shack that's like a real world version of this one.
"So, if we open the door in the real world, it'll open here?" Ren asked.
"We'd have to have Madarame see that the door is open too!" Morgana explained. "It'll affect his cognition."
"Hang on, we don't even know if this door exists!" Skull pointed out.
"That's why we investigate when I act as his muse." she explained.
"That'll be the perfect time to look!" Mona grinned. "All right team, let's leave for now."
They put their infiltration on hold, leaving the palace for the day.
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 3
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 3
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 2
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 2
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 2
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 1
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 1
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 2
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 2
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 1
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 1
THE JUDGEMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 1
Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves? Yes 6.9%
