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 51: - Strength, Tower, Fool
Margaret leafed through the Compendium that her Wild Card had left behind, it didn't really supply her with any answers, but it did give her a sense of comfort to think of the trials that Yu had endured and overcome, hopefully Margaret would be able to do the same. Their investigation would be beginning today and with it maybe the attendants would be able to find their own truth as to the fate of the Velvet Room.
"I have contacted Natsumi and she will be meeting us shortly," Elizabeth called. Margaret lifted her head to look at her younger sister, as much as Elizabeth might irritate her, they had put aside their differences in order to work together; even though Elizabeth was reluctant to give up her search for a way to safely dissolve the Great Seal. Theodore released a sigh of relief; he had successfully found a recent site of such an accident and they were currently outside the train station in the area they had encountered the young Betwixt.
"Let's just pray we'll find something before something else happens to us or this city," Margaret insisted. The eldest attendant couldn't deny how agitated this made her, even if their master rotated the attendants for each guest, none had ever been excluded from the Velvet Room before; in fact, they typically cared for the Personas and Compendiums of ages past, so long as their training had been completed of course.
"It is a shame that neither Izumi-san nor Sakuya-san can aid us in this endeavour. I feel it is wrong for us to drag Natsumi-san into our issues in spite of her encouraging us to actually do something this time around," Theodore spoke up. Margaret couldn't deny that having one of the elder Betwixt would have been preferable, but neither of them seemed to be capable of coming to Tokyo at the moment which Margaret found quite suspicious… as if something was repelling them intentionally.
"We must make do with what we have little brother, whether we like it or not," Elizabeth advised. Theodore nodded his head, but the grim expression on his face did not change and Margaret wondered if they were doing the right thing about hunting for the information regarding those unnatural accidents; a quick shake of her head dispelled those thoughts as the elder attendant focused herself, this needed to be done and Margaret couldn't afford to question it.
"You do realise that it's half five in the morning," A groggy voice commented. All of them look over to see Natsumi walking over to them, she wore an outfit that looked to be a uniform with a bag over one shoulder; in her right hand was a large flask releasing steam, which she took a quick drink from. "Most people my age, are still dead asleep," Natsumi pointed out. Her hair was still slightly mussed from her sleep and her eyes were slightly droopy.
"Which makes it the perfect time to go to the train station," Elizabeth pointed out. Natsumi shot a mildly dark look at the cheerfully smiling attendant, but Margaret knew that not only was Elizabeth immune to such looks, but also Natsumi's attempted glare was ruined by the sleepiness that was still bleeding into her eyes. Natsumi returned her gaze to Margaret and she sealed up the flask that she had brought.
"I take it because of the accident back in April, that was because a train driver sped the train into the station and it derailed into the platform. People resigned because of that," Natsumi pointed out. Theodore shrugged his shoulders, in truth none of them had been paying attention to human news. "Alright, let's get going," Natsumi stated. She led the way into the building and set about buying all of them tickets before they got on board the train.
Margaret had to aid Natsumi in wrangling her more air headed and easily distracted siblings, sometimes even dragging them back into the seats they had managed to get. Margaret felt concerned for Natsumi who seemed unnaturally tired, as if all the Soul Power within her had been wrung out, the girl was leaning her head against the heel of her palm with closed eyes. But that just made her exhaustion stand out much more, Margaret decided to insist they avoid such early morning excursions again, a weakened Betwixt couldn't do her job after all.
Eventually the train rolled to a stop and Natsumi immediately guided the group out of the metal contraption. The moment Margaret's feet hit the platform, she felt an intense chill rush its' way up her spine as her eyes widened, something was definitely wrong here, the dark aura seemed to have amplified rapidly, becoming almost encompassing and crushing in its' presence. A quick glance at her siblings proved they had also sensed the increase in strength.
"This is Shibuya, it's sort of a central hub for Tokyo. Come on. We can't stand around here," Natsumi encouraged. Margaret proceeded to shoot the girl a disbelieving look, shocked that she seemed to be taking this dark presence in stride; it was as if she hadn't even noticed the heavy choking presence that seemed to almost threaten their very existence. If it had been here a long time, then it might be understandable, but it was still a fairly new thing.
Following after Natsumi, they left the platform behind, but the darkness did not leave them, instead it persisted and Margaret deeply resisted the urge to bat at the air around her in a wild fashion to ward it off. Instead, the eldest attendant held onto the book in her hands and kept casting quick looks about, wondering if she could spot some kind of source for the darkness despite it so obviously being other world in origin.
The siblings wandered around the underground area they had been brought with different auras; Margaret was deeply concerned as she could see nothing to indicate what was causing the darkness. Whatever the source of this darkness was, it was completely different to the fog that had coated Inaba only five years ago, despite something about it feeling familiar, and there seemed to be no physical point of entering it from this location making it feel a little like the Hollow Forest.
"I have to say, it seems most likely that the source of the dark aura likely resides here," Margaret admitted. She had looked around slightly outside before returning to her siblings, although they seemed to have lost Natsumi, and Margaret knew that the darkness got less the moment one got even a small distance away from the train station; that alone seemed to indicate that this place was the anchor point.
"Yes, I concur. Ever since we reached this area, I've felt the oppressive and haunting aura of this place only growing stronger, it's definitely here," Elizabeth stated. Elizabeth and Theodore had more experience with other world locations having an anchor in the physical world than Margaret did; interestingly enough, this darkness seemed to carry traits of both the fog and Tartarus which unsettled Margaret slightly as it seemed to imply that the collective unconsciousness was learning somehow.
"However, we don't exactly have the ability to look for it. We possess no eyes to see the collective unconsciousness and no way to travel there outside of the Velvet Room. We're lucky nothing bad has happened to us since we were suddenly ejected from our domain," Theodore reminded. That had been quite frightening, losing their only home so suddenly had shaken Margaret quite a bit… the fear of losing her master and Lavenza continue to be a bitter taste in the back of her throat.
"This is Mementos," Natsumi's voice came. All of the attendants turned to face Natsumi who had returned to them with a bland look on her face, reminding Margaret for just a moment of her immediate predecessor. "By the way, could you guys stand out a little less. Your looks and clothing will make people stare anyway, but maybe stop acting so strange… I had to stop several suspicious people from coming after you," Natsumi added on. A small spark of annoyance laced her words.
"Thank you for your care Natsumi-san," Margaret admitted. The girl was going out of her way to help them in finding answers about the disappearance of their home and the strangeness that was hovering over Tokyo, yet it seemed their ignorance of this world was making that difficult for her; Margaret didn't know how to help the girl, but she was grateful for the aid that Natsumi was giving to them.
"What is Mementos, though?" Theodore asked. An appropriate question as Margaret had never heard of such a place before, Natsumi didn't immediately answer, instead she snapped her head about as if looking for something before motioning for the three siblings to follow after her. They trailed behind the Betwixt with Margaret feeling a little perplexed by the girl's actions, eventually they reached a fairly deserted area and Natsumi came to a stop.
"Mementos is the collective unconsciousness that exists here, a world where people's Shadows and others are projected and we can interact with them," Natsumi explained. Her voice was low and soft as if she was worried about the words being projected away from their conversation; but her words caused Margaret to realise why the feeling was something akin to the fog from Inaba.
"The TV World," Margaret breathed. The way that Mementos had been described bore a startling similarity to the location that had been the source of the fog; perhaps it was the same thing here and Mementos was the source of the dark aura. Natsumi proceeded to give the elder attendant a confused look before something sparked within her eyes, as if the girl had come to an unspoken realisation.
"Yes, it does seem to bear more links to what your Wild Card went through than ours with Tartarus," Elizabeth acknowledged. Natsumi's look of confusion returned as she looked at Elizabeth and Theodore, but it seemed like she wasn't about to start asking questions about what they were talking about; quite polite of her in Margaret's opinion since it would prevent their conversation from being derailed.
"But… the last time wasn't someone in command of such a place, does anything seem to be controlling Mementos?" Theodore asked. That had indeed been the case, Margaret still recalled the panic that had almost engulfed Yu when he realised that someone had been ruling over the TV World this entire time and was prepared to make a move; the power Yu had gathered was barely enough to protect him in time.
"Not really, it keeps changing but it's a massive collection of people's thoughts all gathered together, it makes sense for it to change. But I've never sensed anything odd about it, it's got an oppressive energy but not one that seems to have a source," Natsumi explained. Interesting, that was certainly different to how the TV World operated as each area was rather set in its' appearance, even if each area was unique based upon which person had created it.
"Intriguing," Theodore admitted. It certainly made Margaret's mind spin as she tried to come up with some kind of explanation as to how the new collective unconsciousness could be functioning, each new form always seemed to be different to the previous one and was unique in how it operated; Natsumi suddenly pulled out her phone and frowned at whatever she saw on it.
"Look, I got to get myself ready to go to school. I'll meet up with you guys later and we'll continue this. I hope we'll find something," Natsumi explained. Ah, yes, Natsumi was still at the age where her education was paramount and it was understandable that she needed to prioritise that; Natsumi proceeded to bid her goodbye and left the area.
"It seems this will require more investigation than we thought," Margaret admitted. They had some answers, but far more questions had popped up in place of the questions which had been answered; they needed to keep looking into these incidents in order to actually figure out all of the questions that came up.
"Indeed, quite concerning. But at least with Natsumi, we'll be able to find these places we must visit," Elizabeth acknowledged. That had been their main problem, Theodore can basically stumbled upon this place by pure chance the other day, so they would certainly need the aid of someone experienced with the area to help them find their way.
"Now, how about we choose where to visit next," Theodore encouraged.
*Persona 5 Royal*
Shiho did wonder if she had made the right choice to burden Natsumi with the things that had been spinning around in her head, but Shiho also knew that she couldn't keep all of this darkness bottled up inside of herself, it would be bad for her. Natsumi seemed like the only reasonable choice as her parents would just try to force her into therapy and Shiho wasn't ready for that yet and Ann didn't deserve to hear any more about that monstrous thing.
"Good afternoon, Shiho," Natsumi's voice came. Shiho's head perked up and she looked over, seeing the girl gracefully slipped into the room. "No physiotherapy today?" Natsumi asked. She had likely caught onto the way that Shiho was dressed in clothing more suitable for relaxation than her usual exercise outfits.
"No physio today. This is one of my scheduled rest days, I can't always be burning my muscles," Shiho admitted. The rest days were randomly assigned based upon how Shiho was feeling after each respective exercise and the following day; sometimes she was perfectly fine to do a slightly less intensive exercise, but today was one of the days where it was better to let her shrieking muscles rest and recover.
"That makes sense, your muscles will need time to recover after each strenuous activity," Natsumi agreed. She moved over to sit on the chair that was beside the bed, Shiho nodded her head in agreement to those words; this allowed a lull to come over them but while Natsumi seemed completely at ease within the silence that coated them, Shiho couldn't help but feel a little agitated as she tried to think of some way to lead into the topic that she had asked to sneak to Natsumi about.
"Natsumi, do you like games?" Shiho asked. It was completely different than what she had wanted to talk about, but she did have an idea about what to do with this topic; Natsumi ended up raising an eyebrow at Shiho's words before a small smile came onto Natsumi's lips as she proceeded to lean a little closer to Shiho who had scooted closer to the bed's edge.
"Depends on the type of game you're asking about," Natsumi responded. Shiho understood why she had given that response, games nowadays certainly had a much broader definition than the one it used to have; but Shiho had a rather simple idea in mind, it was hopefully something that would take away the unease that was clawing away at Shiho's insides.
"I was thinking more a card game, can't exactly play video games in a hospital and I've never been interested in them to begin with," Shiho admitted. Natsumi nodded her head and seemed to relax slightly at hearing that it was a card game; perhaps she didn't have as much as an interest in video games, similar Shiho herself which warmed the girl's heart a little. Natsumi clasped her hands together as she focused her sharp eyes upon Shiho with a spark of intrigue in the green irises.
"Which game were you thinking of?" Natsumi asked. Shiho's lips curled into a bright smile as she quickly reached over to the bedside table and picked up a small notebook that she had managed to get her mum to bring in the other; the games were at least something that could keep Shiho occupied when her school work was finished and she was on a rest day which meant nothing else to look forward to.
"Koi-Koi, I played it a lot with Ann…," Shiho spoke before trailing off. Shiho flicked to a blank page and quick split it in half with black pen, Shiho stopped and lightly tapped the pen against the page as she focused upon Natsumi again. "And I thought, maybe if I was a little more relaxed, it'd be easier to tell you about what's going on in here," Shiho admitted. Natsumi smiled in an encouraging manner which lightened Shiho's anxiety.
"Let's try it, do you have a deck?" Natsumi decided. Luckily Shiho did, Ann had managed to bring it by – which is what she'd forgot the other day – so they could play again; Shiho proceeded to use her ingrained dexterity to quickly shuffled the cards several times in quick succession while Natsumi pulled over a table for them to use. "Is a year alright with you?" Natsumi asked. Shiho nodded her head and they each quickly drew a card to determine the dealer.
Shiho won that draw and proceeded to deal the twenty-four cards to start their first round. It was quite easy to get lost within the game as Shiho focused on the strategy, but it wasn't easy to ignore the pressure that Natsumi's eyes exerted. That intensity made it slightly difficult for Shiho to focus despite her intent and she ended up losing the first round when Natsumi managed several sets and finished the game after Shiho had recklessly declared a Koi-Koi on the previous turn.
As Natsumi gathered up the cards and proceeded to start shuffling them with her own impressive dexterity and while Shiho watched the graceful movements of her fingers, Shiho's thoughts focused on the looks she had been given. It wasn't cruel or anything, nor had Natsumi actually said anything, but it almost felt like her glance was filled with all the words that hadn't been spoken; Shiho couldn't help but open her mouth as the words practically rushed off her tongue.
"Sometimes when I feel his touch on me, I just need to get to the bathroom and… scrub myself as hard as possible. But even that doesn't seem to get rid of his touch," Shiho admitted. That occurrence had been extremely common shortly after waking up from her coma and she'd almost thrown herself out of her bed in desperation to feel clean again; it had led the nurses and doctors to leaving a jug of water, a cloth and soap nearby if this ever happened and no one was in the room with Shiho. It had faded, but only ever so slightly and Shiho was still randomly awakened in the middle of the night sometimes with that same urge.
"Maybe next time this happens, instead of rushing, do it with purpose. So instead of violent scrubbing firmly press with a single strong wipe down your skin," Natsumi suggested. Shiho looked at the girl who had a contemplative look on her face, likely trying to think about how to help as her hand was set on the table. "Then afterwards, just gently dab or brush at the area with the cloth. If something doesn't work, then don't keep trying it, you probably won't change the outcome," Natsumi added on. Those words sounded rather familiar just in a different kind of arrangement, soon Shiho recalled why those words had been so familiar.
"Isn't that like the basic definition of insanity nowadays?" Shiho asked. A smile on her face as she said those words, a part of Shiho almost felt like she was going insane from everything that was happening to her; it was moments like these with those who cared about her and who cared about her in turn that really grounded Shiho and reminded her that she wasn't completely losing her mind.
"Yeah, I think it is, but I let you in on a little secret Shiho," Natsumi agreed. The dark haired girl waved Shiho closer, curious, Shiho shuffled over as Natsumi bent her head to Shiho's ear with her hand cupped around the ear. "Everyone's insane, there's no such thing as normal or sane," Natsumi whispered. Shiho couldn't help but laugh at her words, feeling strangely relaxed despite the oddity of their conversation.
They continued their game with Shiho eventually winning the whole game and feeling much happier about talking to Natsumi than she did earlier.
*Persona 5 Royal*
Ren was walking through Yoyogi park, the sun was just starting to set beyond the horizon when Natsumi had contacted him with a request to meet up, he hoped that Natsumi would be more willing to open up today. He knew the topic of her family was still a painful thing to speak of, but Ren really believed that getting Natsumi to open up about them would be able help her the most in allowing Natsumi to actually find her heart.
A soft sound echoed towards Ren and the boy raised his head to look at the source, finding Natsumi had arrived at last. The girl proceeded to sit down beside him and they stayed there in silence for a while, Ren wasn't entirely sure how to start their conversation but it seemed that Natsumi was in the same position. Ren took in a silent breath before deciding to prod at the sensitive subject, just to see if she would be willing to talk about it.
"Are you up for talking about your family today?" Ren asked. He felt his body tense as he waited for her reaction, waited to see how she would respond to this question a second time; Natsumi exhaled and then proceeded to shift her body so that she was leaning back with her head tilted towards the skies despite her eyes being close. Her face was carefully blank which prevented Ren from knowing what she was thinking.
"Yeah… I'm feeling good about it today," Natsumi admitted. A soft breath of relief escaped from me at this admission, Ren was glad that she was open to talking about them today as at least it didn't mean he'd have to scramble for conversation or another idea. "What do you want to know?" Natsumi asked. Her head had tilted down and eyes opened to look at Ren with that intensity common to her green gaze.
"I think we need to head to somewhere you used to spend time with your family first," Ren suggested. Natsumi suddenly dropped her head down and the curly haired boy furrowed his eyebrows at this action since he had expected her to stand up and start leading him to the location of her old home perhaps or some other place; Ren tilted his head slightly and saw a small upturn of her lips.
"We're… kind of already there," Natsumi admitted. She lifted her head to look at Ren and finally saw the confused expression on his face, Natsumi raised her hand and proceed to gesture to their surroundings with her hand. "Yoyogi Park, I used to come here all the time with my family," Natsumi revealed. Well, that did explain why Natsumi hadn't made a motion to move away from the bench.
"Huh? Well, show me what all of you would do when you came here," Ren suggested. He hoped that Natsumi would be able to open up just a little more about her family; Ren knew he couldn't push too far or too hard, otherwise Natsumi might shut down like she did back in the club room. Ren hoped he'd picked up a thing or two from Maruki-sensei during their sessions.
"Picnics. Especially during spring, we'd always come when the cherry blossoms started to bloom," Natsumi revealed. She started to look around before spotting something which caused her to reach out and point to an area near two trees which almost seemed to have the tops woven together from how close they were together, perfectly shading the area directly underneath it. "That's where we'd set ourselves," Natsumi explained.
"Why there?" Ren asked. It was oddly specific to choose one location, in response, Natsumi grinned brightly and Ren was so struck by the sun beam expression that he barely registered being pulled to his feet and guided to the area that Natsumi had pointed out. Once there, Natsumi let go and thrust her hands out in front of her, indicating that Ren should look in that direction and so he did.
The scene that greeted his eyes was quite impressive, the vast lake stretched out in front of him, making it almost seem like their little area was an island so long as he kept looking forward. The trees on the other side rustled in the breeze which allowed the light to shift and change as it fell through the boughs. When the artificial geysers in the water erupted, the clash with the light would briefly create rainbows that arced through the sky briefly before dissipating. The rippling water was crystal clear and gently reflected the light back off the surface.
A soft sigh escaped from the girl beside him, Ren turned around and found that Natsumi had proceeded to sit on the grass and she had curled her legs around to the side. Natsumi's gaze was soft, completely open and staring across the lake with a happy smile curving across her lips; Ren lowered himself beside her as softly as possible, to avoid disturbing whatever she happened to be thinking about in this moment.
"I think this view is what convinced Mirai to get into photography," Natsumi admitted. Ren focused his ears on the conversation but kept his eyes focused on the scenery, he could certainly see how a young child would be encouraged to take up capturing such a beautiful imagery if treated to it every so often. "And Hikaru would always help mum with making the meals that we brought with us," Natsumi added on. A soft hum, more to let Natsumi know that he was listening to here than any type of response, escaped Ren's lips.
Natsumi fell silent after those words and Ren started to worry that he might not have said or done the right thing despite Atalanta's vibrations within his soul guiding him on what to say. But Ren didn't want to risk speaking up if it disrupted Natsumi when she was busy thinking about something she wanted to tell him; a sudden sniffle came from the girl and Ren's head snapped towards her. His vision was filled with Natsumi's legs up to her chest and arms wrapped around them, her head buried against the limbs.
"Hey Ren," Natsumi muttered. A soft sound that Ren didn't truly know what it meant slipped from his lips as he focused on the sound of Natsumi's voice, slightly weary and as if her throat was clogged with something. "Is it wrong, for me to miss my family so much?" Natsumi asked. Ren wondered if it was possible for anyone to hear how much his heart broke when he heard those words.
"No," Ren answered. He then moved closer and gently wrapped his arms around Natsumi, pulling her unyielding form into his chest as much as possible, Ren lay his head gently on top of Natsumi's coal black locks. "It's not wrong, I miss my family every day. The only thing keeping me sane if that I'll eventually see them again. But you don't have that reassurance, so it's naturally you miss them so much," Ren soothed.
His hands moved in a gentle, soothing motion, one that his sister liked to use on him whenever he got really worked up about something. One hand gently rubbed up and down Natsumi's right upper arm with a firm squeeze upon her shoulder whenever he managed to grip it, the other was a sweeping motion from side to side across her back where her shoulder blades were with firm presses into her skin every so often.
"Sorry about this," Natsumi croaked out. Ren frowned at her words, not happy that she was deciding to apologise so suddenly all for letting herself cry; a sudden fury blazed to life within him, the urge to press her for information about her family, try and get information about her uncle, or track down those who knew her in the past and see if they had any information about him rose like a storm. Ren wanted to make the man pay for the pain he had inflicted upon the poor girl and how lost she felt about her own emotions. "I always seem to be getting your clothes wet," Natsumi added on.
The fury was douse. The urge to press for information snuffed out. A light laugh escaped Ren as he felt his darker impulses fade away in the wake of her words, he was just relieved that she hadn't been sorry about crying about her family like he had feared. Ren actually took notice of the slight damp feeling that was on the sleeve of his jacket, reaching into his jeans, Ren pulled out a small square of cloth in a bright red shade just like his gloves.
"Don't worry," Ren insisted. With that Ren pulled back from the embrace while Natsumi lifted her head, despite how hard it was to see her crying, Natsumi eyes glimmered like jewels when the sunlight caught her tears; swallowing a lump that had appeared in his throat, Ren extended the cloth to Natsumi. "I brought a handkerchief this time," Ren reassured. And, despite the tears that continued to tumble down her face, Natsumi broke out into genuine laughter. Loud, full and vibrant laughter that echoed over their area as she used the square of cloth to wipe away her tears.
Ren took that incident as a victory for her heart, with a soft smile on his face at the joy radiating from his friend. They remained in Yoyogi park until it got late enough that Ren was sure Sakura-san would get suspicious if he remained out any longer, the two of them stood to their feet and they proceeded to walk away from the park to reach their way home.
Separating from each other, Ren continued his walk to LeBlanc when his phone went off, this was actually a fairly regular occurrence whenever he hung out with his friends or the other people he interacted with. He actually enjoyed the slight check-ups that they engaged in whenever he reached his current dwelling.
"Hey Ren," Natsumi greeted. "Thank you. And not just for today either. You've done more for me then you probably realise," Natsumi admitted.
"It's alright Natsumi, you're a precious friend to me, plus you've had a lot of cruelty done towards you recently, it feels like you need to have plenty of kindness given," Ren admitted.
"You're a good friend and I'm lucky to call you one of mine. Although…," Natsumi commented. Ren furrowed his eyebrows at her words, trying to figure out the reason behind her odd pause all of a sudden. "Maybe don't go forgetting your stuff, like the handkerchief," Natsumi added on. Ren's eyes widened at her words before a smirk made its' way onto his face.
"What if I didn't forget it? What if it's a gift?" Ren responded. It was the truth, Ren had bought that handkerchief just in case Natsumi ended up crying again, but it was also meant to be a reminder to her that someone was there for her, exactly the reason why he had chosen the bold colour of his Rebel Gloves; a point that Natsumi would be unable to miss.
"Smooth, leader. You been taking lessons from our gentleman healer," Natsumi teased. Ren could hear the joy within her tone as she said those words and it caused a flutter to occur within his heart, she always seemed so poised and serious that it was a relief to Ren whenever she managed to relax slightly and open up, he didn't know what happened with the others but hopefully they were also helping.
"Maybe," Ren responded. The both of them broke into laughter at their shared joking, it was also a relief to Ren to hear Natsumi joking around; she didn't do it as much as the others, but it was still nice to hear her being so joyful. "Good night," Ren bid. Natsumi returned it and they hung up, Ren was also quite glad she had suddenly run off like last time… that was so weird.