The Velvet Room
Masato eyes opened and she was far away from any dorm room or monsters. She was back in the elevator in the middle of nowhere slowly ascending as if never having moved from the last time she had ventured there. She was in a plush cushioned chair that seemed to embrace and caresses her taking all her worries away. She did not feel tired anymore more just distant like she had the other times she had arrived as if she was moving through water. Across from her at a table but an impeccably sinister grin plastered to his face and with the long crooked nose that resembled the beak of some demented bird was the small bald man that was becoming a regular visitor in the depths of her brain. Igor was the name he had given to himself and standing next to him statuesque, a living example of perfection in motion the women in the blue elevators attendant's outfit her pale yellow eyes looking out taking everything in with clarity and detail adsorbing every moment. The old man let out a small chuckle that came somewhere deep inside nasally, witch-like but somehow filled with warmth. He spoke to her in a gentle and clear voice.
"It's so nice to see you again." He told Masato the smile to his voice. His hands tented together and raised on the table he peered at her from across the table as one would some sort of scientific experiment watching to see what developed.
"I'm I dead?" Masato asked a small tinge of fear in her voice as she spoke. That was the only real logical reason for all of this right? She last remembered the cold and the dark drawing her in and whisking her away. It always fight like they said dying felt like. Igor looked at her with a tilt of his head before letting out another laugh as he shook his head.
"Of course you are not dead my guest. Death.... is a place even beyond the reaches of The Velvet Room. You became unconscious after awakening to your "Power". It's nothing to worry about, though. So just relax. And...I see it was Orpheus who heeded your calling. Fascinating, your story only gets more and more interesting as things progress my dear. Orpheus, master of strings persona of the Fool. A very rare circumstance indeed/."
"Persona?" Masato asked the word sounding vaguely familiar but she could not place the meaning to it and thinking about it made her head hurt.
"Ah yes forgive me I have not explained the full contents of our contract yet have I? A persona is the power you summoned on the roof, an inner manifestation of your psyche, the very fundamental aspects that make up your soul. It's similar to a protective mask that we all wear. We all have many faces we show to the world, and our Persona is but one of many. But you do not wear one mask my dear. You are the fool, the zero, the beginning of all things and hence you are no one, but you are everyone." He explained as he made a small gesture with his hand and a small card materialized out of thin air on it a small picture of a jester laughing very close to a cliff, accompanied with a dog at his heels. The Fool.
"But, I don't understand. What do you mean that I'm everyone?" She asked him as picked the card up in her hand which felt pleasantly warm in her palm. She looked it over and turned it about as if it had some secretes to share.
"You have the talent, the innate and very special ability to control Persona's that do not belong to the Arcana of the Fool. A power which grows as you develop your social links - your emotional ties with others. Humanity has an old saying "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." turns out this is not far from the truth." He told her as he made another motion was his hands and the card in her hand vanished in a splash of light. She looked up at him inquisitively from what she gathered the Persona user her in that case, develops their Social Links. Friendships, relationships, and the like. The closer you get to people, the more powerful your Persona becomes. For some strange reason she believed that considering her history with friends this idea of Social Links might not go too well for her. But none the less she at least begin to understand what had happened on the roof at least.
"But, I fear that I have kept you here for too long. But before I do let me leave you with some parting words. Remember my guest Memento Mori..For though life is merely a journey to the grave, it must not be undertaken without hope. Only then will a traveler's story live on, treasured by those who bid him farewell." And with that lhe velet room faded from view as somewhere up ahead a long and distant light came fast towards her. And when her eyes opened again and she felt as if she had just awkoen from a long and unpleasant dream and that she would turn over and she would be back in her own room somewhere. But it did not look like her house, the ceiling was odd; it was sterile white with fluorescent light fixture long and horizontal that ran down the length. It was around that time that she began to remembered what had happened and coming ot the conclusion that it was not all a bad dream. She tried to get up out of the bed but her body felt heavy and responded sluggishly and she just finally gave up throwing her head back against the pillows. Turning to the side it was then that she realized she was not alone in the room and Yoromatsu had been sitting in the chair next to her an almost impassive look on his face.
"Ah, you're awake. Very good." His voice echoed out and for a moment Masato felt very Self-consciousness. How long had he been sitting there? How long had she been moving about and non noticed him. Was she really that unaware? Why was he here? And why was his name on the contract that Igor had? All these thoughts and more flew at her head each trying to take priority. All she wanted to do at the moment was hide under the covers and let it all blow away slowly fade away. But that would make her look more crazy... She was damned if she did and damned f she didn't. So gathering her own inner resolve she cleared her through and looked at him speaking as articulate as possible trying not to ramble.
"Uhhhh......ummmm.... Thanks." Yeah she was the epitome of grace under pressure.
