Good Day Readers! Obviously, I do not own anything connected to the Persona series in general or Persona 5 specifically, I DO own Chiba Natsumi and Anais Ouvrard, along with Natsumi's immediate family members and the original Personas that will be showing up on occasion.

I would appreciate any responses that you have, please enjoy.

Chapter 36: - Sealed Cognition

We decided to keep moving since none of us were particularly drained, the enemies we faced happened to be going down easy thanks to our Baton Pass continually allowing us to strike enemies' weaknesses. But that was probably only happening due to the enemies being on the weaker side, the further in we went then the more powerful Shadows would start cropping up. A slight shiver crawled its' way done my spine and the thought of facing something like the Belphegor or Torn King of Desire again.

A second Safe Room was located and etched within our minds, but we came across a slight problem further down the chequered patterned hallway. An infrared laser grid was present much like the ones we'd come across previously instead of the mad trap we'd just escaped from. But this one had all three boxes activated, forcing us to step back and look around, Panther found us a hole in the wall which we all climbed up only to see something quite shocking.

"The hell!? How're we supposed to get passed this huge hole in the-," Skull began to exclaim. Not that I could blame him, there was a massive hole in the floor that stretched across the entire floor right in front of the opening we'd used and spanned a fair distance, stopping only a few steps away from the opposite wall. A single plank of wood stretched across the opening, but it was parallel to our current location.

"Calm down. Look at there the security guard is walking," Mona insisted. I did as our healer instructed and noticed that, despite the obviously impossibility of the action, the Shadow was marching quite securely over the hole in the ground. And, if I looked closely enough, I spotted a shadow splaying out on the hole.

"It's a trick," I growled. The hole was either a painting or covered by glass, either way it was a ploy to make potential infiltrators think they were trapped, we jumped down and took out our annoyance on the security guard after ambushing it. Now that I was on the ground, it was easy to see that the hole was simply a painting… what a devious trick to have embedded within your own Palace.

"Do you think there's anything worthwhile in there?" Joker asked. I looked over and saw that he was gesturing to the restrooms that were at the back, Mona didn't know and neither did I, so we decided to take a peek inside them anyway with me and Panther taking the women's room while the boys took the men's. Within the women's room was a treasure chest so I opened it up and pulled out an accessory that I realised could be useful, we stepped back out and I handed the choker to Joker who quickly pocketed it and motioned for us to follow him out the doorway.

We kept going through the hallway, coming across more single display cases which we used to hide behind. However, we came across something unexpected marching through the corridors, it was a Shadow with the same purple mask that the others possessed but the shape of the body was completely different. Instead of being a burly security guard, this was a fancy suit wearing feminine shape, I'd never seen a Shadow be a different shape to the others before the mask was torn off.

Exchanging looks, we decided to ambush it anyway when I confirmed it wasn't dangerous for us to face. Joker darted out and proceeded to tear the mask off, which revealed four Hua Pos floating in the air. Acting quickly, I easily prepped my bow and fire off arrow after arrow, easily skewering three of the fairy girls. But the last one managed to dodge the attack. I passed to Joker who took down the last one by using a new Persona that looked like a little snowman dressed in dark blue called Jack Frost.

With them all down, we attacked, but there was an issue after we pulled back. The Hua Po that Joker had knocked down had been eliminate, but not the ones I'd successfully knocked down all of which were still present. The others successfully eliminate them, but that didn't stop the unsettled feeling in my stomach as I looked at my bow. It had worked fine against the Pixies, so why weren't the Hua Pos similarly affected? Was it because they were stronger? But my strength shouldn't have waned so suddenly that the arrows were so much weaker now.

"Amazon!?" A voice yelled. I jumped slightly and dropped my bow to hang at my side as I turned seeing that everyone was giving me concerned yet confused looks. "You okay?" Skull asked. There was no reason to give them anything to be concerned about regarding my bow's capability, not when there was something more important for us to be focusing our attention on.

"I'm fine, nothing to worry about," I answered. I hooked my bow back over my back; however, while Panther and Skull seemed to accept my response – from their expressions – neither Joker nor Mona were willing to let this topic go, even if they weren't going to push it now, which was fine by me. "Shall we keep moving?" I suggested.

We kept pushing onwards, eventually entering an area that still had that awful golden colour to its' walls and more horrific paintings hanging about. Yet as we stepped inside, I couldn't help but feel a worrying sensation roaring its' way across my stomach. I turned around to try and get some answers, only to see two rods rise out of the ground and become electrically charged as blue crackling lights shot across so the two were connected.

"Guys! We've got a problem!" I called. This was a very worrying thing to happen to us, another blasted trap that we ended up stepping into without any idea that it would happen; with all of us trapped there wouldn't be an easy solution to escape from this trap like last time. The others pivoted around to face me as one of the boys groaned in annoyance at seeing the electrical fence that had sprouted.

"Huh? Is this…," Panther wondered. I nodded my head sharply, we were caught in here and there was probably going to be more trouble coming for us if they had managed to set up a trap to capture us; I quickly summoned my naginata to my hand and widened my stance slightly, we were going to be attacked but where it came from was the real question?

"Intruders in the Second Exhibition Room! Apprehend them at once!" A slightly crackly voice ordered. All of us quickly pivoted around to face the enemies that would no doubt be appearing in seconds thanks to that summons; moments later some Shadows popped into existence further within the room, all I could be thankful for was that their position meant they were blinded by the walls that the paintings hung from.

"Crap! Let's get outta here, fast! Which way's the exit!?" Skull panicked. Panther hissed a shush at him which was appropriate since his exclamation would only bring the Shadow's attention to us faster; in fact, I could see their masked faces twisting about in order to locate the source of the sound, Joker forced us to shuffle backwards to avoid being spotted.

"Locked behind the electrical fences, and I don't think we should try jumping them, especially Mona," Joker answered. A wise decision, especially considering Mona's weakness to Electricity. "Into the shadows! Now!" Joker ordered. We did as instructed and dived for cover before the Shadows managed to find us, we could risk trying to poke around to find a way out, or attempt to ambush the Shadows instead.

We neared the first one and Joker promptly ambushed it. Sadly, the commotion caused by the ambush drew the other towards us. I darted out and proceeded to leap onto its' shoulders and tear off its' mask. Dropping back to the ground with a quick roll to get back on my feet, I faced the Shadows that had appeared. A woman had emerged, clad in a white kimono that flowed around her, various paper fans covered her body, face and were even held in her hands; those fans and her legs possessed purple circles that made me think of how the Psy element was represented.

"Ame-no-Uzume," I muttered. Panther moved over to join us, but I grabbed a hold of her. "Bad idea, Panther, she'll Drain your flames allowing her to heal," I warned. I quickly cast a glance over my shoulder and saw that Joker was currently staring down a trio of Jack Frosts. "You're better off helping Joker," I insisted. Panther swallowed and nodded her head as she turned to help our leader while Mona hopped nervously at my side. "It's only Weak to Psy," I growled out.

"Skull! Help out Amazon and Mona! We'll be done with this soon enough," Joker ordered. Skull appeared at my other side and I faced the goddess, Mona started things off by quickly healing Skull from the drain on his Life Energy that he'd done earlier. Skull boosted his physical attack while I quickly raised the magical version for myself.

But that was when the problems started. I felt the crackling energy manifest as Ame-no-Uzume swung her fans out, sending the wave of Electricity to all of us. Skull stood still and took the hit without much issue, just a casual shrug of his shoulders. I stepped around the bolts to avoid them, Mona on the other hand dodged rapidly to avoid his weakness being hit. I hadn't expected anything like that, since it was neutral to Electricity.

I quickly attacked with my Gravity which rattled the enemy but didn't knock her down. Skull followed up with a fierce Physical attack from Captain Kidd. Mona was wary after the electrical attack, but he still summoned Zorro and blasted it with Wind. The goddess retaliated, but not with lightning bolts this time, instead it used Wind to attack. Skull was not as swift as Mona and got hit this time. Ame-no-Uzume reacted swiftly by calling more lightning out, probably hoping to hit Mona this time.

Lucky for us, Joker and Panther had finished their battle. Joker jumped in to protect Mona, covering the cat shaped thief with his body, meanwhile me and Panther proceeded to drag Skull out of the way of the Electricity, even if he would be mostly fine. Once the attack ended, Panther darted forward and quickly used her Sleep Spell upon the goddess. Joker followed up the attack with an Ice Spell from Jack Frost. A failed negotiation with Joker not being strong enough led into a swift All-Out Attack thankful dealt with Ame-no-Uzume.

We looked around and Joker called us over when he found something, we drifted over and located a tall, metal box that would allow us to reach the top of one of the paintings displays. We climbed up it and Joker suddenly swung across on his grapple, he moved over to the left-hand wall and reached a finger out to something that lay there. This caused a slight buzz to echo throughout the room.

"Oh look! The electric fence's deactivated now!" Panther chimed. I glanced down and let out a relieved sigh when I saw that Panther was right, the crackling barriers had disappeared back to wherever they'd sprung from thus allowing us to start pushing further into the Palace; Joker jumped down to the ground and we all made to join him.

"This should let us move forward. Nice work, Joker!" Mona complimented. Joker shrugged his shoulders but then I saw Mona's fur stand on end. "I'm sensing something. I think one of those doors must be nearby," Mona admitted. He must have been referring to the Will Seeds, which seemed like a good idea. "Let's try and find it!" Mona insisted.

"Over there seems like a good place to start," I suggested. I pointed to the small alcove that had been in the centre of the room which I had spotted contained a set of stairs going up; we darted over and quickly ascended the steps, taking the left-hand path led us to the other side of the door where Joker had deactivated the electrical fence.

Further along was an opening that led out onto a balcony with a walkway overhead. Joker grappled up to it and we all followed after him, the walkway led us beyond the wall that contained the blue and yellow glass wind that had blocked the treasure chest. We dropped down and spotted the Will Seed door which had braided golden ropes criss-crossing the surface.

"Don't worry, this is a genuine masterpiece..." Madarame's voice echoed. Thankfully since they were expecting the voices this time, no one jumped but there was tension spreading across all of us at that lie. "Nosy pupils have to have their prying eyes plucked before they become a real problem" Madarame's voice carried on. The creaking of leather echoed through the room at those words. "You don't have what it takes to distinguish imagery from the real image!" Madarame's voice continued. Seemingly done with the vile words, Joker slashed through the braided rope and then pushed the door open, allowing us to step inside and claim the first Will Seed which declared his distortion as being Vanity, our Soul Power got a boost and we also got a usable item from the treasure chest that was behind us

We returned to the painting room and headed through the one doorway we hadn't explored yet. There was a gold plated room beyond and at the end was another chequered pattern wall but this time it was made of blue and yellow glass, there was something behind it but the coloured glass distorted it. We quickly strode down the hallway and followed the glass wall to its' opening, beside the opening was a rectangle depression filled with water and the sides surrounded by plants; a Safe Room lay behind the trees.

However, Skull's attention had been seized by what was beyond the glass wall so much so that it silenced him; frankly anything that managed to silence Skull was worth paying attention to. It was a massive courtyard with golden walls that had creamy yellow patterns on the surface, interspaced by glowing blue windows. Hedges curled across the ground, leading up to a bamboo painting that was split down the middle by lines of wood, beyond that was a towering building that was so shiny, I'm certain coloured splotches started to dance in front of my eyes.

"Whoa, it's even gaudier than the rest of the museum," Panther breathed. I reached up to rub at my eyes in the hopes of clearing my vision, but I still nodded my head to show that I agreed with Panther's assessment of this section's ostentation; it was clear this place was more important to Madarame's cognition than the rest of this repulsive building had been.

"It definitely looks like something important would be hidden away in there," Mona agreed. Another thing I agreed with, for it to be so much more elaborate and hidden deeper within the cognitive building then there was bound to be something – hopefully the Treasure – of great importance located within this section.

"Let's go find out!" Skull encouraged. He sounded excited and while it was a good thing that we managed to find it in our first infiltration, there was also bound to be a bunch of issues attached to this area; I lowered my hands from my eyes and blinked them in a slow manner for a few moments, reassure that the splotches were now gone.

"If it's worth hiding something back there, then the enemies will be stronger, we should be careful of such a potential increase of danger," I warned. We needed to be careful when adventuring in this new area, we'd already been caught by two traps that had hampered our ability to move and the enemies were going to be an even greater threat due to how important this building seemed to be.

"We'll go, but cautiously," Joker decided. He turned and began to walk towards the painted door, however when he got close, the door – and all the doors beyond it – snapped open, causing our leader to still as he turned his head to give both sides a stare. "I really hope they don't decide to close on us," Joker stated. He then proceeded to make his way forward with a fair amount of tension attached to his muscles.

Following after Joker, we cautiously made our way down the golden pathway towards the gaudy building at the end. As we got closer, I saw another painted doorway that towered over them, it seemed to be designed in the manner of a peacock's tail plumage. But in front of that was a wide band of red that was translucent and too tall for us to jump over. As we got closer, the red band stretched further and further across my vision until we entered another courtyard.

This revealed a prominent problem, the red band was actually several red bands interspaced by the same devices that had created the electrical fences. They stretched and covered the entire courtyard which meant approaching the peacock door wasn't possible; I looked at Mona and saw that he had the map out and a frown on his face, which confirmed my worst suspicions, our only way deeper in was forward.

"Whoa! The hell?!" Skull asked. Nothing good, that was certain, another elaborate trap had been sprung in front of us and it handily prevented us from actually making any progress, plus from just a quick glance I was certain that there wasn't as easily accessible way for us to get rid of this new nuisance… I was getting really tired of these damned lasers.

"Are these… infrared lasers? There's no way we can get passed them…," Panther admitted. We needed to get through them but with no way to turn them off, then that was basically impossible and given the laser's height it was impossible to jump over any of them to reach the other side to check; plus, there was nothing for us to grapple to… well nothing in reach which might as well be the same thing.

"This level of security only proves there's something worth protecting up ahead," Mona stated. Even if it did lead to the Treasure, it didn't matter if we couldn't get passed this blockade, I kept my eyes darting about to search for anything while occasionally allowing my Second Sight to flare up just to try and avoid straining them too much.

"Wait, there's something written on this sign…," Panther called. I stopped my scanning and turned to look at the girl who had walked over to a sign that I'd ignored during my search. "All personnel: This door can only be opened via the security room that lies beyond it. Please be cautious, as it is impossible to open from the outside," Panther read.

"So, it's never gonna open!? How're we supposed to get passed!?" Skull protested. It was like a stone had been dropped into my gut as Panther had read that passage, if we could only unlock this security system from the other side then it seemed like we'd never be able to get passed this obstacle; a small hum came from Mona and I glanced at him seeing a contemplative look in his eyes.

"Wait… that door… I think I've seen that pattern somewhere…," Mona spoke up. That was an interesting thing to hear, but if he saw it then there might be a way around this irritation. "Oh right! There's no mistaking it! That's the same door I saw the other day!" Mona exclaimed. He had seen something, but it wasn't in here since none of us had seen anything like that in this place. "Guys, let's head back!" Mona insisted. Everyone was now focused upon the healer who seemed quite pleased with himself. "I think I know what real world door that's based on, there may be another way to open it!" Mona explained. A real world door, if it was in the physical world then we might just be able to do something to open the door from that side. "In any case, I'll explain later! Come on, let's go!" Mona insisted.

The little cat hopped off back towards the other side of the glass wall, we followed after him and quickly went to the Safe Room on the other side to log it and we left the Palace.

*Persona 5 Royal*

"How're we supposed to get passed that door?" Ann asked. The concern was etched heavily on her face, we were gathered a short distance from the shack so as to avoid being spotted by Kitagawa or Madarame; I glanced over at Morgana waiting for him to clear up this confusion with whatever he had managed to work out between the two doors that he had seen.

"I dunno… you think there's some kinda off switch somewhere?" Ryūji answered. That was what Morgana had implied with the things he was saying, I just wanted to make sure that we got all the information possible before anyone proceeded to jump to any kind of crazy conclusions about what to do to get that door open.

"Looks like this is where I come in," Morgana chimed. So, he was finally going to speak up, everyone else focused upon the human turned cat with a kind of anticipation for what he would tell us. "I have a suspicious place in mind. Remember, this shack is the basis for Madarame's Palace. I scouted it out the last time we were here," Morgana reminded. I raised my eyebrows at that as some puzzle pieces slotted into place for me.

"Morgana, are you saying that there's a door similar to the one we encountered in there?" I asked. I nodded my head towards the shack's location to ensure he knew what I was talking about, if that was true then the two doors would likely be connected to each other; there's no way that Madarame's cognition wouldn't have those two doors connected given their identical designs.

"That's correct Natsumi. It's on the second floor. I noticed an unnaturally hefty lock on a door up here," Morgana admitted. A secret door with a heavy lock, now that was enough to rouse my suspicions especially with how elaborate the door in the Palace was designed; if it was the same in design out here then that would certainly draw my attention.

"If it's locked, that means there's something in there he doesn't want people to see," Ann stated. Very true, you don't lock something without wanting to keep people from seeing what was inside and ensure the contents were kept safe from those who were unwelcomed; for the door in the shack to be locked then that meant Kitagawa was included and that left me with an acidic taste in my mouth.

"But don't we wanna be openin' the door in the Palace?" Ryūji questioned. It made sense that he would be confused since they'd never seen it before; I'd never seen it but when you have two masters of the world of the mind coaching you for your first Palace, it kind of gives you a leg up over anyone else who might join you… I wonder if Morgana had something like that to explain his knowledge.

"The door Morgana found and the door in the challenge are essentially the same thing. If we force our target to realise the door on this side can be opened by outsiders, that will automatically cause the same thing to happen in his challenge," I explained. I hoped that was clear enough for Ryūji to understand why we needed to open the door on this side.

"Exactly, by opening up the real one in front of Madarame's eyes, it will affect his cognition, opening the door in the Palace," Morgana admitted. However, from the expression upon his face, I think Ryūji seemed to be having a hard time understanding what me and Morgana was trying to explain to him; I knew Ryūji wasn't stupid, but he might be the kind of person who learned better from doing instead of being told, that was evident from his weapons training.

"I'm not really gettin' it… is that gonna work?" Ryūji asked. He seemed concerned, probably wondering if us doing this was even going to work not that I blame him since we didn't have the evidence that this would even work or did we? If I think about it, then technically the calling card worked on what was essentially the same principal, a forceful change of cognition to alter an aspect of the Palace.

"We've done it already. The letter you posted worked on the same principal to solidify our goal," I pointed out. Ryūji looked at me and blinked his eyes, perhaps not making the connection between what I had said; however, Ann brightened up which implied that she at least understood what I was getting at with my comparison.

"It can't hurt to try, it's the only chance we have," Ren stated. Thank goodness our leader was on board with the decision to go through with that course of action, we knew it could work and it was the best way to actually get through that damnable laser field that Madarame's brain had twisted around his precious secret door.

"Well… yeah…," Ryūji muttered. He seemed unsure and I guess with no physical proof to show him that it had been done before beyond the calling card – but we're in public! – there wasn't much way we could reassure him like I had with my own information about Palaces; Morgana on the other hand seemed to be insulted by Ryūji's words as his hackles proceeded to jump upright as he fixed a burning gaze on the false blonde.

"Why don't you trust me!? It's worth a try!" Morgana protested. I nodded my head in agreement, just doing nothing and giving up wasn't an option with Kitagawa's future and possibly his life on the line, we had to at least try all possible options instead of immediately deciding something was too much hassle.

"But even then, there's still that hefty lock we have to deal with in reality, right?" Ann pointed out. A fine concern, if we wanted that door open then we needed to get through the lock first, getting it open in front of Madarame was secondary to getting it open in the first place; one would easily be able to lead into the other.

"Oh, that'll be a breeze. Just give me a hairpin and I'll handle it," Morgana claimed. That wasn't something that could be done in honesty; it wasn't that I doubted Morgana's capability for such a thing as I'm certain he had to be the one who taught Ren to make the lockpicks and how to use them, it's just there was a problem that I think Morgana had to have overlooked.

"With what thumbs Morgana, last I checked you had none," I reminded. Without those thumbs then manipulating the hair pin in such a manner was probably going to be impossible for him, I also don't know if his claws would be capable of that kind of necessary manipulation. "It might be better for you to coach someone through it," I pointed out.

"But who? I can already do it, but me and Ryūji are essentially banned from the building," Ren pointed out. That was the difficult thing, getting Ren in would be our best bet but if we tried through the front door then Kitagawa was likely to call the cops, if we snuck Ren in and were caught then the cops would get called anyway; honestly it was too risky either way.

"It'll have to be me then," I stated. This caused everyone to look at me with confused expression but realistically I was the only choice for us to use. "After all, if Ann-chan tried to do it then Kitagawa-san will end up stumbling over what we're trying to do since he's hyper focused on her where as he barely pays me any attention," I added on. Everyone made sounds of agreement with Morgana seeming to be concerned about something.

"True, but that'll take some time. Doing everything in front of Yusuke would be impossible," Morgana admitted. Agreed, if he spotted me trying to break into something that his 'precious sensei' considered private, then I'd be the one that the police were called on instead. "If only there was someone who could distract him for a while and keep a check on Madarame's location," Morgana commented. My stomach made an uncomfortable sensation at those words.

"Oh… ohhh!" Ryūji exclaimed. I didn't like the tone of Ryūji's voice either, it actually made my nerves light up just a little, and not in a good way. "Man, how are we even gonna get into his house? We'd get reported for sure if we force ourselves in," Ryūji pointed out. His eyes were gazing at Ann and I immediately realised what he was referring to, my mouth dropped open in horror and shock.

"You can't be serious?" Ren questioned. His tone made my jaw crack shut and I looked at him, seeing a rather terrifying expression on his face, especially since he had plucked Morgana out of his bag and set him on the ground; Ren was glaring between the two of them but more heavily on Ryūji. "You're suggesting we force Ann to agree to Yusuke's modelling request just to get inside. After what she went through!" Ren snapped.

"Thank you, Ren, words out of my mouth," I snarled. At least someone else had spoken up about how horrible this was, I snapped my head over to glare heatedly at Ryūji who looked ready to run and hide from having the two of us glaring at him so much. "It has been barely anytime at all since Kamoshida's revolting actions and you want Ann to put herself in that kind of situation again!" I added on.

"Ren and Natsumi are right! You're seriously asking me to do something like that!?" Ann snapped. I'm glad the girl had actually decided to react, though Ryūji – I don't envy his current situation – looked ready to wilt into a pile and disappear at having all three of us angry at him; even Morgana looked uncomfortable at being included in this glare triangle.

"We're not saying you should really get naked," Ryūji protested. His voice was weak as he worryingly looked between the three of us, Morgana moved over and began to wind his way around Ryūji's ankles in an attempt to comfort him before focusing his blue gaze upon Ann with an almost pleading cast to them; this was up to Ann as to whether she agreed or not.

"It's simply the best excuse for you and Natsumi to enter Madarame's house without raising suspicions… so, we'd like for you to play the role of decoy, Ann-dono," Morgana explained. I know it was the easiest way in, but I didn't like the idea of dumping Ann into a situation she clearly hated to even think about, I wish I could think of another way to get us inside before this decision was made.

"This is way too sudden… I mean, I don't even know where the locked door is," Ann pointed out. None of us did apart from Morgana, it might be on the second floor but for being called a shack, the place was surprisingly spacious which meant that I'd spend more time searching or trying to wheedle that information out of Kitagawa, which could result in him being set off again if I pushed too hard one way or another.

"Don't worry, I'll accompany you and Natsumi," Morgana reassured. That didn't actually reassure me, it looked like it was being steered closer and closer to Ann being forced to take this pathway, Ann's expression looked rather uncomfortable as she wondered what to do about the rapidly devolving situation.

"Worst comes to worst, what if we get found out?" Ann asked. An appropriate question since us getting caught would mean we'd have to escape from the shack very quickly to avoid getting caught by anyone calling the police on us; I didn't want to suggest it, but it would probably be better for Ann to be aware of the best way to escape such a situation if she did decide to agree to this horrible suggestion.

"We could always run into the other world. Being inside would just drop us into the nearest corresponding section," I suggested. It wasn't anything I'd done simply because of the danger it could cause for me to end up being suddenly dropped into a fight without even knowing about it; Ren moved forward and planted his hands firmly but kindly upon Ann's shoulders.

"Ann, as the leader, and more importantly your friend, I'm telling you now; you do not have to do this. We'll find another way to reach the door. If you feel uncomfortable, scared, sickened or anything that unsettles you, you don't have to go through with this," Ren insisted. Ann looked down at the ground, lightly biting her bottom lip as she seemed to be running things through her head.

"But… this is the easiest and fastest way to get inside. And the longer we take then… the more Yusuke suffers… the more he might end up like that other student," Ann stated. None of us said anything, Ren simply continued to stare at her with a steady, gentle gaze, Ann drew in a deep breath and looked back at our leader. "But if there's no other way… I don't… I don't… I don't have a choice… I'll just find a way… to avoid the… naked part," Ann muttered.

"If anything happens, scream. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I'll come and get you out of there," I reassured. Ann looked at me with relief sparking within her eyes, especially since she knew I meant it; just because she knew self defence didn't mean she'd be able to force her body to move how she wanted in all situations. At least she knew that I'd be there to help her if things got bad. Ann stepped back and her eyes hardened.

"Seriously, you better pull this off!" Ann demanded. Her gemstone hard eyes darted between me and Morgana who proceeded to hop back onto Ren's shoulders while moving to keep his gaze upon Ann; it seemed Ann had made her choice to go through with this deeply uncomfortable situation and while it left a sour taste in my mouth, we now knew what our path forward would be.

"If it's for the sake of Ann-dono, I won't stop scratching even if all my claws were to break!" Morgana declared. I proceeded to give the cat a bland look before walking over to him, I cupped my hand around one of his ears and started to lightly rub it; a deep purr began to emanate from his throat at my actions.

"What exactly would you be scratching? I'm doing the work here," I reminded. Pulling my hand off, I lightly tapped him on the nose as a reminder, still I would definitely be in need of Morgana's advice when it came to working my way through that damned lock; let's just hope it was a case of easier done than said.

"We'll be countin' on you two! Don't let Yusuke notice ya, alright?" Ryūji reminded. I don't think that would be a problem now that Ann had agreed to go through with setting up the meeting in order to distract him, Kitagawa had become so hyper focused upon Ann that so long as no distractions were around then I doubt he'd get very concerned about anything beyond getting to make his painting.

"If he tries to force my clothes off… I'll tear that house down!" Ann vowed. For some reason, I actually believed her, the fire of Carmen burned bright within her eyes as she made that promise. "I'm really gonna lose it if we do all this and the Palace's door doesn't open. Got it!?" Ann threatened. In response to that, I proceeded to salute as if I was a soldier though perhaps a tad more cheerfully than a real soldier would.

"Yes ma'am," I responded. I would do everything I could to get that lock open, and if push comes to shove then I'd find a way to break the door down, lock or no lock; at my action, Ann relaxed a little as she smiled at me, Morgana allowed a happy meow to escape from him. Ren still looked uneasy but there wasn't anything more we could do to keep Ann as safe as possible since she'd made her choice.

"We're workin' to get dirt on that guy's crimes either way. It won't go to waste," Ryūji reminded. I still wasn't happy that he'd gone and suggested Ann go through with the modelling session even if he hadn't meant for Ann to actually remove her clothing. "Alright, let's get down and dirty tomorrow," Ryūji decided.

"Tomorrow!?" Ann exclaimed. She had a right to be startled by having it so suddenly thrown at her, Ryūji claimed that the earlier we did this was for the better "Um, b-but… will Kitagawa-kun agree?" Ann wondered. That wasn't something any of us could actually give her the answer to given that we didn't really know Kitagawa's schedule.

"Only he can answer that, just tell him you've agreed to do the modelling and ask when would be the best time for you and Natsumi to come around," Ren encouraged. Ann nodded her head and so with our decision made we proceeded to walk away from the shack.

*Persona 5 Royal*

Back at home, I was running through what other items I should try to bring along with things from Mementos to give to Ren. It wasn't like I was going to find anything to help me prepare for lock picking online without knowing the kind of lock so this was the best preparation I could do. My phone went off so I picked up my phone to check what was being discussed.

Ryūji: You get in touch with Yusuke?

Ann: Mm-hm. He asked me to come by tomorrow.

Natsumi: He's very keen to go through with this painting.

Ryūji: Awww yeah, he fell for it!

Ann: Um, do I… really have to do this?

Ren: No.

Ren: I already said you can back out if you want to.

Ren: We'll find another way in.

Ryūji: But this is the fastest route.

Ryūji: I get you're uncomfortable but it's our best shot.

Natsumi: This is still your choice to make Ann, don't feel pressured by us.

Ann: I know. I know.

Ann: Just the idea of… getting naked in front of someone I don't know.

Ann: It's really making me uncomfortable.

Ryūji: Still, this is such a pain.

Ryūji: We gotta open that door AND have Madarame see it, right?

Ann: Yeah, Morgana said that'll change his cognition.

Ryūji: I don't get it.

Natsumi: Remember how we used the calling card to manifest the Treasure. This is working on the same principal.

Natsumi: We're essentially forcing Madarame to realise his impenetrable door, can be easily opened.

Ryūji: Right. Like a calling card.

Ryūji: Oh yeah, let us know if any weird shit goes down and we'll be there to back you up ASAP.

Ren: No, we won't.

Ren: Me and you will be inside the Palace, confirming the door opened and hopefully getting to the Safe Room on the other side, just in case it could close again after Natsumi and Morgana open it.

Ren: Remember what Natsumi said Ann, scream if anything goes wrong.

Ren: Natsumi, I'm trusting you and Morgana to protect Ann.

Ann: Thanks Ren.

Natsumi: Understood, leader.

'I won't let Ann-chan go through that kind of pain again, even from an innocent source like Kitagawa. That's a promise.' I vowed.