Through the Strange Blue Door [Attendant Lola]

A bright light washed over Akira as he opened the strange blue door in the centre of the cave. When the light cleared, the scenery around Akira changed. The first thing he noticed was he was underwater but strangely enough, he could still breathe perfectly fine. He wandered around a bit and looked out the circular windows where the fishes were swimming around.

"Helloooo, anybody there?" Akira called out as he walked away from the window.

Lola was preoccupied with the new look of the velvet room, as usual. She found it much more fun than the last design. At least in this one something seemed to be happening. In fact, she spent most of her day watching the fish swim by, when she wasn’t trying to figure out that whole school and homework thing. She couldn’t understand why people did it. It was the most boring part of the real world. And yet, the TV made it look like so much fun. They were all liars! She was so caught up in watching the fish, in fact, that she didn’t even notice when someone entered the velvet room. She probably wouldn’t have ever noticed if he hadn’t spoken up. The moment she heard his voice though, she turned to look at him. When her eyes finally caught sight of him, they lit up. Like a child with a new toy, she would squeal and run over to him. As far as she could tell, he was completely new to her home. She couldn’t wait to say hello to the newest User to find their way here.

With a hop in her step, she would appear to glide over to him (mostly because the outfit she had on covered her entire lower body so you couldn’t see her legs). She would stop right in front of him and put on her serious face, before speaking, “Hello, and welcome to the Velvet Room, the other side of the creepy glowing blue doors. My name is Lola de Pianura and I’m here to help you in any way possible. Now, can I get your name, or am I going to have to play the guessing game, because I’m not very good at that.” Even though she had done some growing up, she hadn’t changed all that much. Sure, she now took her job seriously, but she would interject some fun into it if it killed her.

"My name's Akira Narumi, nice to meetcha." Akira smiled at the girl who had just introduced herself. She seemed nice enough to let his guard down while being here. color=#996633]"So this place is called the Velvet Room? What a strange place. So, what is this place for?"[/color] Akira asked. He had a ton of questions about this strange place but he decided to stick to one question for now as he didn't want to trouble the Lola. He looked through the area a bit and noticed a few chairs. "Let's take a seat first before you answer that." He said while pointing to the chairs. He then strolled to the chair and took a seat before looking back at the girl.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Akira.” She would reach out to shake his hand. If he took it, that is. If he didn’t, she would just drop it back to her side and stare. Lola opened her mouth to answer his question- a very standard one for those who were new to the Velvet Room- but he told her that they should take seat before she could let any of the words come out. Personally, she was much more comfortable standing (as it made for an easier time in case she needed to make a quick getaway), but to each their own. She would follow behind him, only to take the seat the accompanied his own, “You know, it’s kind of funny. Given where we are, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be the one playing host. But that’s that and not this, so let’s get to what this--” She would spin her finger to show that she was taking about the entire Velvet Room, “is. As I said, this is the one and only Velvet Room. Well, maybe not only, but that is where we are. It exists for the convenience of those with Persona and is home to all of us Attendants. We are many, and we just live to help you if you ever need it. No, seriously. We literally live to help you. We skip over the ‘what do you want to be when you grow up’ phase of our lives and go straight to punching the clock.” She would wave that off so she could get to something more pertinent than her ramblings, “I’m sure you have many questions beside that though. I hear that most new Users do.” Not that she would really know. She wasn’t exactly known for seeing a line full of quests, “So, how can lil’ ol’ me serve you today?”

"So I guess only people with a persona can enter here." Akira said with a smile. She was certainly a strange one. Oh well it isn't that bad, it just makes everything a whole lot more interesting. She was right that he had a ton of question about this place and he was itching to get them answered.

"All righty then," Akira took a deep breath. "Here's my second question. What exactly is a persona and what are those things called shadows. It seems that we can only defeat them is with a persona."

Lola would lean back in her chair, deciding that she had enough of the formality thing. Even though she hadn’t once attempted to be formal, “To answer your question, this place is only for those with Persona. If you don’t have a Persona, you can’t even see the doors to get in here.” It was just the way it worked, “They’re pretty much everywhere and all the blue ones lead here, so don’t worry about finding the same one every time.” She found it helpful to mention that to him. Otherwise he may get lost, “As for the Shadows, they’re like the things out of a bad monster movie, only worse and real.” That was a bad combination, “They feed off humans, so it’s best to take them out. Just be careful, because they will fight back and their bark is just as bad as their bite. Thankfully, that’s why you have Persona. Those guys are there to make sure you aren’t defenseless against them. Based on how they grow, there are many ways it and you can take on the Shadows.” She’d cross her legs and continue speaking, “So, any other questions or should I just give you a copy of the quadrillion page manual? Order now and I’ll throw in a free one woman parade.” She had a bad feeling she was going to have to explain this far more often than she would care to. It was part of the job though. She couldn’t complain. Well, she could, it just wouldn’t get her anywhere.

[color=#996633]"Guess I'll have to defeat any shadows I see before it attacks a random bystander."[/color] Akira thought to himself. After Lola mentioned that only persona users can fight these monsters called shadows. This would be quite hard to do by himself though he already knew 3 other persona users in the area so there wouldn't be as much as a problem.

"All rightey, I'll take a copy of the quadrillion page manual. It would be quite useful if I can review things from this place any time I want." Akira said with a laugh. "I have one last question before I leave, how many persona users are out there."

She would give him a smirk for going along with her little joke, “I’ll get one for you, but I warn you, chapter nine is boring: No, for the ninth time, you haven’t entered the Twilight Zone.” She sort of understood the reference, but only by name, “I personally like chapter sixty four: I don’t know what I’m saying anymore, so just go figure it out yourself.” She had to admit, it had been a while since she had fun like this. Her face would turn deadly serious despite her jolly mood, “I’m sorry, Akira. Due to the nature of my job, I believe in keeping the privacy of all those who come through those doors.” She would point at the door Akira had come through, “I will not betray them, even if you mean no harm by asking. That of course, also means that I cannot tell you how many there are. However, if there are any more and they show an interest in meeting you, I will let them know. If you find them on your own, that is also acceptable. I will just not be the one to tell you. Of course, I also apply this guarantee to you, unless you state otherwise.” She felt that it was important to protect everyone who came here. Some of them were more ready than others, and they were entitled to their own space to figure out what they wanted out of their new power.

"Ha ha, all right then. I understand that the safety and privacy of the users comes first." Akira said with a smile. "Thanks for telling about persona related things. I'll come back whenever I have any questions or something." Akira stood up from the chair, waved at Lola and slowly walked back to the door. There was still some unanswered questions but Akira didn't want to bother the Attendant any longer. As he opened the door the white light washed over him and he soon found himself back in the cave where he entered the Velvet Room from.

-EXIT-