The One Who Never Told | P5

25

Dungeon crawling had been going smoothly for the group.

Seeing as it was the four of them together, they were able to fight the shadows with ease. Suzuki wasn't sure how long it had been since they had entered, but hours had most definitely passed.

"Oooh, it's another hazy-lookin' door! This is that thing!" Ryuji proclaimed as the last shadow fell to the ground and evaporated. As he said, right before them and at the end of the hall was a big door. It faded in and out of existence. When Suzuki first looked at it, he saw a storage room down, when he blinked and looked back, it was an old castle door.

"It's a safe room." Suzuki commented. It was about time they ran into one.

Morgana nodded. "We can discuss our strategy inside." He added. Their feline companion pulled open the door for the rest of the group. "There are a lot of places even I don't know about in here." Soon enough, they all entered the room.

It definitely lived up to the name. Inside, Suzuki was finally able to relax some.

He took claim to a chair and sat back. His legs arched from constantly walking around. It had been awhile since he had gotten so much exercise. Everyone took their own sitting spots.

"How's everyone doing?" Morgana questioned after a moment of silence. This was a first for the group. They had never been in the metaverse for long, and it showed.

Ryuji crossed his arms and looked over at the talking cat. "Aren't there even more shadows here than before?" He questioned. When it was just Akira and Morgana fighting, things seemed to go by so much faster. But now, it felt like there was a shadow waiting and lurking around every corner.

"Just gettin' this far's been a real pain in my ass!"

Suzuki nodded. "Isn't it because we provoked Kamoshida, though?" He questioned as he turned his attention towards Morgana, who only nodded in response.

"Still," Morgana began. "He seems to be awfully on guard."

Silence washed over them again. It felt like they still had so much more left to go. It didn't even feel like they were half way through the palace, and there was still no signs of the treasure they were looking for.

"When are we gonna find this treasure thing?" Ryuji voiced the concerns of the group.

Morgana crossed his arms. "Don't be so hasty." He went on to explain. "First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route." Ryuji still had a look of confusion on his face.

"A path to the treasure's location." Akira spoke up. It had been a minute since he had last said anything. "We need to figure out where it is before we can steal it." He added. Ryuji gave an understanding nod.

Morgana sighed. He had a look of doubt on his face. "Honestly, I think we'll need a little more manpower in order to accomplish this." He admitted. It wasn't going like he had thought with the four of them alone. "At the very least, one more person would be nice..."

Suzuki's mind couldn't help but drift to Ann as he listened to Morgana. Like the rest of them, she was able to enter the palace. Did that mean she had the potential to unlock her own Persona? There was still to much they didn't know about this place.

But, it didn't seem impossible.

He was sure if the girl did, she would definitely come back though. Ann had never been one to take no for an answer. It might have been a good choice to mention it to her once they got out.

Regardless if she could use a persona or not, they'd have some explaining to do to her.

"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place...?"

Outside the comforts of their safe room, an echoey voice could be heard bouncing off of walls of the corridor. Silence instantly washed over the group, as they all hushed up.

"Princess?" Ryuji whispered as everyone quietly hopped to their feet. It didn't seem like the shadows had heard them or notice their presence. They all leaned close to the door to try and hear what they were saying on the other side.

The shadows continued to talk. "I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder." One guard said to the other.

"It doesn't matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!" The jingle of their metal armor as they walked soon faded away as they walked the other direction, heading further down the hallway and out of the earshot of the group.

Ryuji's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as he looked at his comrades. "Who's this princess they're talkin' about?" He questioned.

Suzuki thought for a moment. "Could it be..." The group turned towards him.

"Could it be Takamaki? I mean, she was able to come here with us, so wouldn't she have the app?" He pointed out. He had just been thinking about her, but this wasn't how he wanted things to turn out!

Morgana turned around. "I'll go find out!" He exclaimed as he left the room. It was only a second later when he returned.

"Suzuki is right! Lady Ann has been taken by shadows!"