Chapter 31: An Artist Controlling Herself Like A Puppet Hanging With Boris

We then ate at a diner together for lunch. Boris was drinking iced tea like a champ.

"How hungry and thirsty are you?!" Cattleya shouted,

Boris finished his glass.

"Very." He replied, "Besides, I never knew that Ren here had that much money."

"I got it from two jobs." I replied,

"You got two jobs?"

"One at Rosie's Emporium and the other at The Hazbin Hotel."

"Teh, look at you, hard working down here."

"Yeah…"

Cattleya finished sipping from her cup of almond milk.

"Ok, so now that we have Boris on the team, let's see what Code Name we could give to him." She said,

"Code Name?" Boris wonder,

"That's what we Phantom Thieves have." I said, "To represent who we are."

"Our leader's right. These Code Names resemble our looks as Phantom Thieves in The Cognitive World."

"Huh…" Boris said, "I might as well be Hunter since I look like one there."

"Already deciding?"

"That's what I want to go with if that's alright with you guys?"

"Sure." Lars said,

"I like that name." Willow said,

"Me too." I said,

"Ok, welcome aboard, Hunter!" Cattleya said,

"Just call me Boris here." Boris said as he blushed,

We all share a laugh. Boris cleared his throat.

"Now that I'm with you guys, can I tell you guys something?" Boris asked, "This also has something to do with Vox, but she's a friend of mine."

"Go on." Cattleya said,

"Her name is Selene. Selene Vamp. She's a bat demon from Sloth and she's pretty much an artist that controls herself like a puppet."

"How so?" Lars wonder,

"I don't know. I tried talking to them before you guys came today, but no luck."

"They're really slaving themself to their own hobby, huh?" Willow wonder,

"Seems likely… She hasn't felt this way before, but I'm worried about her mental health."

"Well we gotta find her." Cattleya said, "She's from Sloth, right?"

"Yeah, but she moved here around the time me and my brother moved from Gluttony."

"Question." Lars said, "What does she have to do with Vox?"

"I don't know…"

"Huh, we're gonna have to find out once we find her home." Cattleya said, "Boris, let us know when your friend is available."

"I will."

June 19th. I decided to hang with Boris now that I've formed a bond with him.

"So, what do you do?" I asked,

Boris sighed.

"You really wanna hang with me and my gang, huh?" He asked me,

"Shouldn't hurt to try." I replied,

Boris chuckled.

"Alright, if you say so." He said, "But be warned, some of my gang members are… Tough. I mean, you already saw them before, but…"

"Alright, let's go." I said,

Boris was shocked.

"You're way too fast, buddy!" He said,

We hung out with his pack. One short one started to sniff me.

"Oi, Boris! Ain't he that nerd that kicked ya ass and jolted?" He asked him,

"Yes, that's him." Boris replied,

The short Hellhound pointed at me.

"Listen here, pal!" He said to me, "I may be short, but you're lucky that we let you off easy after dealing with our leader!"

"Calm down, man…" Boris said, "He's now a friend of mine."

"Yeah, calm down Tiny!" One female Hellhound said,

"My name isn't Tiny you bloody nimrods!" The short Hellhound said,

"You do look tiny." I said,

"SHUT UP!"

We all share a laugh. I think I'm starting to feel a little closer to Boris now.

June 20th. Boris sighed as we were walking somewhere.

"My brother hasn't talked to me in a month now…" He said, "I wonder if he's ok… He's been in that house for a while… He needs some fresh air."

"Something has to be bothering him." I wonder,

"His health is good, but it's his mental being when he's with me."

I pull out my phone to check the Phantom Phan-site.

"Lindsey has been acting silent." I read one comment,

Boris raised an eyebrow.

"That's probably from one of his online friends." He said, "So they're also on the same page as me."

"All he cares about is that Phantom Phan-site he's been running and not wanting to take a break." I continued,

"There's gotta be something we can do…"

I thought for a second.

"Maybe he shares part of Mementos." I wonder,

"A part of what?" Boris wonder,

Later, we entered Mementos. Boris was in his Phantom Thief outfit.

"Huh, so this is Mementos, huh?" He said, "And my brother has a Shadow down here just like everyone else that's not a major threat?"

"Correct." I replied. "Think of them as someone not like the Overlords."

Boris took a deep breath.

"Hang on, Lindsey, we're gonna set your heart straight." He said,

We ran all over Mementos until we saw Lindsey's little palace. We even saw Lindsey's Shadow.

"Go away!" He said, "This website is more important than anything!"

"Lindsey! Listen to me!" Boris said, "This isn't like you!"

"Isn't like me?! I don't care who I am, I just want to be on my own!"

Shadow Lindsey then turned into a Shadow resembling a tiki doll.

"Ok, I don't want to hurt him–" Boris said,

"--This will only give him a psychotic breakdown and a mental shutdown if he calms his Shadow down!" I said,

"Alright, I believe you. Hang in there, Lindsey! It's gonna be ok!"

Boris removes his mask to summon his Persona.

"Ullr!" He shouted,

Ullr then created a Bufula attack on Shadow Lindsey. It was weakened.

"Alright, guess we can take it from here?" He said,

"Now I'm feeling it!" I said, "Alright, after you!"

We then performed an All-Out Attack on Shadow Lindsey. Boris delivered the final blow.

Shadow Lindsey then turned back to his normal self.

"Alright… I'm sorry… I'm too attached to myself…" He said, "I won't let that happen again…"

I absorbed the light that Shadow Lindsey turned into. Boris patted me on the back.

"Thanks, Ren." He said to me, "I'll let you know how Lindsey's doing."

"You're welcome." I said, "Hope he gets well soon."

My bond with Boris is slowly growing.

I returned to the hotel. Upon arrival, a certain someone bumped into me again. It was Baxter.

"Sorry! Sorry!" He said, "Why do I always tend to bump into people like you, Ren?!"

"Calm down." I said, "I forgive you."

Baxter sighed.

"Thank you." He said, "I don't know what's gotten into me. Hey, do you wanna talk in my hotel room?"

"Sure." I replied,

"Great! I have a lot of science to share with you!"

June 21st. I went to Boris's house for the first time. I knocked on the door. Boris answered.

"Just in time." He said, "Hey, Lindsey's doing better now. He wants to come with us to Pride Park."

"What are we doing in Pride Park?" I wonder,

Lindsey appeared.

"Just wanna take a walk." He replied,

Lindsey then went back inside to get a water bottle ready.

"He's putting himself away from technology for a while." Boris said, "I'm glad he is. I don't wanna boss him around since it's just us."

"You're doing good as a brother." I said,

"Thanks, Ren."

Boris sighed.

"I sure hope nothing bad happens." He said, "Lindsey is the only thing I have that keeps me going, aside from you guys."

"He's been there with you since he was born?" I wonder,

"Yeah… All of the hell we've been through together… It's kinda funny because… We're brothers…"

Boris took a deep breath.

"Can't get myself emotional." He said, "Come on, let's wait for Lindsey."

I nodded. My bond with Boris slowly grows.