"REN!" Ryuji called out in excitement as he spotted the raven-haired teen and his not-cat.
"Yes?" Ren asked with a raised brow. "Someone's excited."
"Because of this!" Ryuji nervously said, handing a pink slip to him. "New mission! Guys only!"
'Looks familiar,' Ren thought, taking hold of it.
His face froze.
---
-Victoria's Housekeeping!-
/Young maids will clean your house!/
/Experience what it's like to be a master!/
/Rates depend on selection!/
/Call +X-XXX-XXXX!/
---
"Ryuji, is this an ad for prostitu—" Morgana began nervously.
"NO!" he snapped righteously. "It's for maids! One of the romances of male life!"
"Ryuji, if we call this place and the girls find out, will they not beat us to death?"
Ryuji froze momentarily before muttering, "Maybe you."
Then he coughed before Ren could reply and said, "Men-only secret!"
"...We'll talk about it," Ren said in defeat.
"Ren!" Morgana called out in surprise.
"Come on, Mona. You gotta be a man of taste too! Imagine 'Lady Ann' dressed as a maid," Ryuji said, wiggling his brow suggestively.
"Urk!" Morgana was caught by surprise, and it appeared as if steam was rolling from his head.
'Is the cognitive world leaking into reality even more?!' Ren mentally exclaimed.
'No, you're just imagining it because the Magician is an absurd existence, He Ho!'
'Ugh. Jack Frost, you should have let him think it was,' High Pixie giggled.
'Ugh,' Ren mentally groaned.
"What is going on up here?" he whispered in defeat as he rubbed his temples.
"I never know, man."
---
Ren fell asleep once he got home. It was quick. Much quicker than usual.
Rattling chains rang out in his ears. He opened his eyes to see that he was once more in the Velvet Room.
'Reflects the state of my heart, huh?' Ren thought as he trudged up to the bars. 'Do I really see myself as a prisoner? Something is off here.'
The Personas in his head didn't respond.
"Ahh, Trickster! It seems you have been through a lot in my absence," Igor said with a chuckle, his wide, bulging eyes inspecting Ren with interest.
"The gears of fate have begun to turn, and you're still pacing at the entrance," he continued.
Those words shot a shiver down Ren's spine.
"Ah. Alas. I must leave. I'm sure you've noticed the abnormalities around you. Shadows..." He chuckled deeply. "Coming into reality."
He shook his head. "Before I leave, beware following the path of the previous Wild Card. What a twist of fate that you've known him. I predicted that your Star and your Faith would be someone else."
Caroline and Justine approached from the sides of the cell, glancing at him coolly.
"Goodbye, Trickster. The gears turn ever onward," Igor said, snapping his fingers.
Ren noticed he had a brief, pained grimace, as if something he had said or done harmed him in some way, as he vanished.
Giving a sigh, he looked to the twins with a smile.
"Hello again, girls."
"Hmph, you can't trick me with your womanizing ways and good looks and..." Caroline began before Justine smacked her in the head with her clipboard.
"You're embarrassing yourself."
Justine hid her face with a blush.
Ren was a bit confused by the comment, but nevertheless.
"Hey, do you two want to explore the human world?" he suddenly asked. He felt like these two were people, or... beings, worth befriending. They were fun and inherently kind, despite Caroline's cute tantrums.
Suddenly, Caroline blushed atomic red and crouched down.
"Hey, are you oka—"
"SHUT UP!"
Sighing, Justine uncovered her face and returned to her impassive, cool expression.
"I'll answer in place of my sister. We would love to."
"But Justine, we can't leave the Velvet Room!" Caroline suddenly gasped.
"Why not?" Ren tilted his head. "Didn't you say your sisters did?"
Shaking her head, Justine looked to Caroline. "Did you not chase the Chariot around beating him for trying to mess with 'your Trickster'? We aren't breaking the contract."
Caroline went silent before nodding. "You're right."
"Your Trickster?" Ren said with a smirk.
"YOUR PUNISHMENT HAS BEEN DECIDED!"
Growl~~~
Caroline blushed.
"Are you hungry?" Ren asked with a smile. "Shall I take you two to eat?"
"As one who rules over power, we don't get hungry!" Caroline declared proudly.
"But good food would not be amiss," Justine mumbled.
"But not now! Go to sleep!" Caroline snapped.
Ren suddenly blacked out, and the Velvet Room was silent.
"I didn't mean to kick him out like that," Caroline groaned as she covered her face.
"JUSTINE!" She bared her teeth. "Why were you trying to embarrass me?!"
Justine returned a smile.
"Shall I tell him you have been sneaking out to watch him exercise?!"
Sadly, Ren didn't know that the twins were arguing about him. Nor did he know that one was spying on him.
Especially Justine, who always seemed so collected.
---
"Fuck!" Ren jumped awake.
"Ren?!" Morgana jolted up into a ready position.
"What happened? Are you okay?!"
"Sorry, Morgana... Velvet Room bullshit..."
'Don't follow the path of the previous Wild Card? Predicting different bonds? That makes no sense!' Ren mentally snapped as he laid back, breathing deeply to calm his frustration.
"...Ren, that place doesn't sound good for you. At all. Maybe talk to Yu about it?" Morgana offered weakly. "I can vaguely remember something about the word Velvet... but what you're saying doesn't seem right..."
Ren remained silent.
Perhaps the silver-haired bastard did know.
---