Date: ???
Time: ???
Location: ???
“This is interesting. A visitor to the Velvet Room without a contract.”
“This may be related to the disappearances during various conventions across the world.”
“Indeed. While I lack the power to send him home, I can provide this one with an asylum to help him come to terms with his displacement.”
“And his plush, it seems to hold the same power of the Magician you created to aid the Trickster when Yaldabaoth imprisoned you and separated myself into two.”
“A companion for the Displaced; showing an honorable side amongst the deceit. He shall have access to the Asylum as well.”
Date: ???
Time: Daylight?
Location: ???
I hate when I end up in odd situations. What felt like yesterday, I bought a Morgana plush at a limited convention (due to Covid), only to fall asleep on my feet and end up dreaming about the Velvet room, though I didn’t see anything in the dream. Next thing I know, I end up waking up, but I’m in a dark forest and I’m missing my Morgana Plush.
“Well, this sucks,” I muttered to myself as I shakily stood up and leaned against a nearby tree. “I make a simple purchase and someone, somehow, knocks me out and steals said purchase. It only cost about ten bucks, but it still sucks.”
I look around and try to find anything familiar, but not seeing anything, I simply picked a random direction and began walking. I’m not sure how long I walked, but in a combination of patience and boredom, I began to see more light, like a forest edge was coming into view.
I began to feel hope, just before I smelt something rancid. I only had the smell and a brief rustling of leaves before something large pounced me from the bushes. After the brief disorientation, I was able to get a good look at the thing that attacked, and I was shocked at what I saw. It was a wolf made of rotting wood and foliage.
“Well, crab baskets,” I muttered while ‘frozen’ to the ground. “I now know where I am, but to think that I die just before I could enjoy it…”
“Who says you’re gonna miss enjoying it?” A mysterious voice said from somewhere above me. A black blur then dropped onto the Timberwolf and a cutlass blade was impaled into its head. The Timberwolf collapsed into a pile, allowing me to get a clear view of my rescuer.
“Morgana?!”
“Seems like I don’t need to introduce myself, but we can worry about names after we get out of here,” the masked, chibi tuxedo cat said, running away from the timber pile. “We need to move quickly. Usually, where there’s one Timberwolf, there can be...LOOK OUT!” Morgana suddenly changed direction and knocked me onto my back. Immediately after I landed, a Timberwolf shot out of some more bushes, catching the cat and beginning to chew on him, viciously.
I quickly got up and moved to try to save the cat, but more Timberwolves exit the bushes and stand between me and Morgana. I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to look intimidating, but Morgana seemed to pick up on my intentions.
“It’s no use!” He called out as he struggled. “Just get out of here! It isn’t worth saving me if your life is at risk!”
“Just as worthless as me leaving you to die!” I shot back. “We may have only been together for a grand total of about 30 seconds, but the fact that you were and are willing to put your life on the line for me, it proves that you are friend material...And abandoning a friend to a fateful death is not something I am willing to do!”
‘Well said,’ a mysterious voice said in my head.
My head suddenly ‘exploded’ into a massive headache, forcing me into fits of painful screaming, thrashing, and gnashing of teeth.
‘Unlike most of your brethren, you see fate as clay, moldable, but having a distinct shape. We are all fated to die, but the when is not set until the clay is molded and hardened by the kiln of history.’
‘Just as I “defied” the Gods’ will, you defy and mold your own destiny and fate. And in your time of molding, you will also hold the destiny and fate of others in your hands. Will you give up this “friend” to fate to save your life, or will you risk your destiny and fate to save him.’
“Such a stupid question,” I said as my headache eased up and blue flames flared up around my eyes. “To not act and regret it for the rest of my days, or to act and regret it for the time of mortal pain. You should know my answer, for-”
“I am Thou, Thou art I!” I said in conjunction with the voice as what felt like a mask appeared on my face through the blue flames. I then grabbed the edge of my mask and began struggling to pull it off.
As I was pulling, I heard the voice continue. ‘The magic of this land will allow you to call on my power to aid you in your times of need.’
I then ripped off my mask, taking a layer of skin with it, but compared to the pain of my headache, the loss of skin felt like a sweet relief. A surge of power and a pillar of flame shot out of me, and then I saw him.
He was a man dressed in standard Greek toga and tunic. A staff was held in his hand, calipers strapped to his back, and his chest was covered in dried medicinal herbs like a warrior would be covered by a breastplate.
I turned to the now frightened Timberwolves and pointed a kanabo club in their general direction. “Let us burn this malignant cancer from the face of the Earth! HIPPOCRATES!”
The man took a sprig of herbs and crushed it in hand. When he did so, the Timberwolf that had Morgana in its grasp suddenly burst into flame. In panic, it dropped Morgana and began running off, probably searching for a lake or some other body of water to save itself.
With the exception of one of the Timberwolves, the rest backed off, not wanting to get burned. The one that didn’t back off charged me. I simply sidestepped the charge and braced my club in the dirt, leaving the Timberwolf to ram into it and fall onto the ground in a daze. I ignored it and carefully picked up Morgana, who had gone from chibi cat to normal cat during his maiming.
I gave a mean glare towards the dazed Timberwolf and left the area, heading to where I last saw the forest edge. Upon getting close, blue flames shot up around me and I ended up getting hit with a giant wave of exhaustion. Before I could react properly, I ended up collapsing onto the ground. As my consciousness faded, I saw something yellow move into my blurred line of sight.
Date: ???
Time: ???
Location: ???
Almost as instantly as I had fallen unconscious, I woke up. The place had the look of a clinic waiting room, but it felt like a dream.
“That is because it is a dream,” a male voice said. I looked over towards the reception desk and saw the long nosed master of the Velvet Room seated and watching me with his bulbous eyes. “Welcome to the Asylum, a location I created to give you refuge from the world and from nightmares.”
“So, this isn’t the Velvet Room,” I stated as I stood up from the chair I woke up on.
“That is correct,” Igor agreed. “You were in the Velvet Room for a time, but since you never signed a contract, nor will you need to sign such a contract, your arrival there could be considered ‘illegal’. However, since your displacement was out of your hands, I am able to overlook your intrusion.”
“Thank you sir,” I said, giving him a respectful bow. As I did so, I noticed my apparel was different from the casual wear I normally wear. “And I’m guessing my inner rebellion is that of a warrior doctor?” I asked as I looked over my new clothing.
My “Phantom Thief” attire consisted of a Linothorax breastplate mixed with a doctor’s coat, white scrub pants and white tennis shoes. I took off my mask and noticed it seemed to imitate the plague masks of the medieval period of Europe, but it didn’t cover the mouth and it resembled a dove’s head instead of a crow’s head.
“Hippocrates was a bold physician of his time,” Igor commented. “He believed in the will of the Gods, but also believed that healing is a personal effort as well, defying a considerable amount that the Ancient Greek world believed in.”
A clock on the wall started chiming a time, but I couldn’t tell what it was, as the clock face was blurred and no hands were visible. “And that is my cue to leave you. You are the master of this place, run it as you see fit. I will visit once more, when the Moon is restored. Enjoy the remainder of your rest.” Igor then vanished and I felt drowsy, falling asleep instantly.
Date: ???
Time: Sunset?
Location: Equestria?
Waking up has always been a bit of a problem for me, but that worked to my advantage. As I was waking up, I could hear two distinct voices, so I kept myself in my partial drowsy state to allow me to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“Fluttershy,” I heard a tomboyish female voice say in slight frustration. “How sure are you that that thing on the couch won’t be a problem?”
“I’m very sure,” a very timid voice, Fluttershy, answered. “Besides, judging by the wounds and what Mona said, the creature saved his life….oops.”
“MEOOOOOW!!!” I heard Morgana shout out in pain. I tensed up, trying to hold myself from rushing to his aid. “How many times do I have to say it? It’s MORGANA! And he’s a human, not just some random creature that just so happens to have higher thinking!”
“Sorry, Mona. I didn’t mean to bump that,” Fluttershy said almost too quietly. “And don’t worry about Rainbow. She’ll come around about your friend...eventually.”
“If you weren’t so cute looking, I’d chew you out on your poor feline translation skills,” Morgana huffed. “Hey! Rainbow Mane! What are you...OOWW!”
At that yelp of pain, I couldn’t hold back. I jumped up from the couch and began to rush to where I heard Morgana. As soon as I cleared the doorway into what I assumed was a kitchen area, I saw an anthro Fluttershy attempting (poorly) to shoo away the hands of an anthro Rainbow Dash from Morgana’s bandaged wounds..
Rainbow seemed to have been expecting me, as when I came into view, she was suddenly in front of me and delivered a few good punches to my gut. I had fallen to the ground at that point, struggling to breath. I waited for more fists to come, but a loud screech of a cat with the accompanying hissing sounded out and the shadow Rainbow cast left me and I heard the cyan mare panicking.
A few minutes of screeching, hissing, and Rainbow yelling in both panic and pain, and Morgana landed in front of me. “Is there a reason why you are punching the lungs out of my friend!?”
Fluttershy moved between Rainbow and Morgana. “Now, Mona-”
“It’s Morgana!” Both Morgana and I said at the same time.
Fluttershy looked between her friend and us in bewilderment. “I think I was mistranslating his name, but you can understand him?”
“Yes, but I’m not in any condition to explain, so good night…” I said as my consciousness began to fade, again.
Morgana groaned in frustration. “This is going to be a long stay.”
Author's Note
I've been playing Persona 5, so my mind has wandered this direction.
Something I should also say, my character is of the Priestess Arcana (despite being male) and his Persona, Hippocrates, isn't a Persona from the games.