But Persona users can't have Palaces yadda yadda I'm just handwaving that for the sake of an interesting scenario.
Since this is a Palace infiltration, it's gonna be pretty fast paced and dialogue based, so it won't be super heavy character development.
Just note that I'm not gonna be writing any sort of fight/action scenes because I have an extremely difficult time with them. I also haven't actually played the game; I just watched an LP, so my understanding of the battle system is non-existent.
Also, sorry if anybody outside of Akira and Haru feels really OOC. I don't have the best understanding of the PTs outside of them and Goro. I tried my best to keep them in character, but I won't make any guarantees.
Akira has a custom screen name since the others are admittedly just placeholders in lieu of me not understanding them the best. "IceHeart" is just a reference to his love of figure skating. Also, anything in parentheses next to the kaomoji is the translation. He has a bizarre quirk of using kaomoji in place of actual text whenever he can get away with it. Parentheses are "translations."
There will be some weird incongruities with canon that will be explained in future oneshots.
Akira shook his head as he messaged back to Futaba.
IceHeart: ヽ(^。^)丿ヾ(＾-＾)ノ (Congrats. You win tonight)
Oracle: Never underestimate the power of a nerd with access to the internet.
IceHeart: | ￣～￣|o (I'll win next time)
Oracle: Good luck. You're gonna have to find something even freakier than that next time.
IceHeart: | ￣︶￣|o ヽ(｀◇´)/ (I will, emphasis)
This wasn't unusual for them. On the odd night Akira couldn't sleep, he and Futaba always had contests to see who could find the freakiest, most niche, and disgusting hentai. It had led both of them to bizarre corners of the internet and he had seen things nobody really should have. It was nasty stuff, but it helped kill time and was a nice distraction from all of the worries of school, being a phantom thief, and…other issues.
He blinked when he saw Ryuji's user blink online. It was nearly five, but it was still odd for him to pop on like this so early in the morning.
IceHeart: (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑ (・・？) (Ryuji, what are you doing on?)
Skull: Well, I got an idea for a target for the next job. It should be a pretty interesting chapter for the campaign.
Akira's eyebrows shot up as he adjusted his glasses. To keep their IMs coded, they based it off the Leverage tabletop he and Ann had managed to find. It was pretty thinly veiled, but it helped keep things clandestine.
IceHeart: ( ﾉ^ω^)ﾉﾟ (Go ahead)
Skull: Well, I couldn't sleep, so I got to thinking about what we could do for the next job.
Skull: So I thought what if it was a real corrupt detective abusing his power and status?
Oracle: Woah, that's a really great idea, Skull! We'll have to talk about it with the others when you guys get back from school.
Akira could do nothing but stare. It wasn't difficult to guess what he meant. Goro had a Palace? But he was a Persona user!
He looked over when he heard the door to his room open and Morgana jumped on his bed, brows furrowed. "Akechi has a Palace? I thought there was something up with his powers, but this is the last thing I expected." Akira nodded and scratched Morgana's head before looking back at his phone.
IceHeart: I'll definitely take it under consideration. It could be a fun holdover until we get the next major leg of the campaign sorted out.
They'd already sorted Okumura out, so they were just waiting to see what would happen next. If Goro really did have a Palace, they'd need to get it sorted out as quickly as possible. He couldn't stand to see the gentle boy suffer any longer. He had seen the guilt on his face (subtle though it was) when he'd first seen Futaba in Leblanc. Nobody else had, but Akira knew him well enough by now to read him like an open book.
He closed the chat app and opened the Metaverse Navigator. "Akechi Goro."
Candidate found.
He and Morgana exchanged looks. They hadn't doubted Ryuji's words, but Akira had just wanted to authenticate them regardless. "But how…?" It was all Morgana could choke out.
"…I think I already know what to do. But I should get started for the morning." He had a bento and dinner to cook for a certain detective prince.
"Akira, shouldn't we talk about it before we try to—"
"I know what I'm doing, Makoto." The unusually harsh comment made any further protests from her die and everyone glanced at each other. Akira normally wasn't so adamant about things, but in this case, there was no room for argument or discussion; he already knew the criterion.
Again he opened the Metaverse Navigator.
"Akechi Goro. Home. Prisoner. Prison."
Destination found.
Reality warped around them and they found themselves outside of a large, decrepit manor. Nothingness stretched out in every direction, broken only by the occasional rotting, decrepit tree covered in crows. Their thief outfits had yet to manifest, but Akira knew it was just a matter of time until Goro alerted to their presence.
"Is this really the sort of prison he thinks of…?" Akira heard Makoto's whispered comment and he glanced at her. He had to agree this was an odd Goro to think of.
"I'm getting some weird readings, guys. The distortions aren't allowing me to see anything inside. You're gonna have to go in and navigate without my help." Considering how hard Gor walled when it came to anybody getting close to him, Akira wasn't surprised. He just gave a slight nod and kicked the door hanging by its hinges in.
"Woah, man, this is nuts…" Ryuji let out a low whistle.
What should have been a large receiving room was nothing more than a cramped passage, branching off into fifteen different passages. Absolute darkness cloaked everything, making it impossible to see more than about a meter.
Akira caught Makoto cover her mouth and look away. With how long she'd known Goro, seeing this had to be difficult for her.
"Any news, Oracle?" He had to check.
"Negative, Joker. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get anything in this Palace. The distortions keeping my readings are way too strong." Akira's hand curled into a tight fist. This Palace may very well be the most difficult they face at least in terms of investigation. He doubted even Shido's cruise ship would prove this challenging.
"Normally, I wouldn't suggest this, but we really need everyone here and should pair off. Mona, Queen. Fox, panther. Skull, Noir. We need to comb this place top to bottom and build a map by communicating with Oracle. Somehow, I doubt we're going to find any sort of blueprints this time." Goro was all about keeping people away, so he wouldn't leave a map of his Palace just lying around to be found. If Futaba couldn't get any sort of read, he doubted they'd have an easy time navigating the Palace.
"You're going by yourself?!" Makoto's comment made him look over, and she stared at him with owlish eyes. "But you don't know—"
"If anybody will be safe here, it's likely me. He still doesn't see us as a threat, so I really doubt he'll attack any of us, me least of all." Makoto looked like she had a billion protests to voice, but she let them die in her throat. He could sense her worry for Goro and he couldn't blame her. They needed to get moving to cover as much ground as possible. "Let's meet back up here in about three hours. Keep in contact with Oracle." Everyone nodded and headed into a random hall.
Akira tossed his knife up then caught it before plunging into the suffocating darkness. This was going to be interesting.
For half an hour, nothing changed. He saw nothing but blackness. The was bore no change nor doors nor branching halls. What really set him on edge, though, was the complete lack of Shadows. There was nothing, not even a weakling Pixie or anything else.
"Oracle, what have…the others…found?" He shifted and leaned against the wall, gripping his chest. This place reminded him too much of the house he'd grown up in. Absent father, drunkard mother always passed out, leaving him alone with the piercing silence of the house…
He squeezed his eyes together, bending over as his breaths came in gasps.
He needed to hear his sister's voice.
"It's odd, Joker. Fox and Panther were forced into another hall because the one they entered initially dead ended about ten minutes in. Skull and Noir keep climbing a large staircase. Mona and Queen found themselves in a hall right out of a Benny Hill sketch. Most of them lead to brick walls or rooms with nothing in them. I'm guessing you haven't found much?"
"This hall goes on forever. There's nothing ." This was way too weird. The way this house was already described reminded him of—
"FUCK!"
"Joker, what happened?!" Futaba's voice shook from hearing the exclamation, let alone in English. It meant something was very wrong.
"I think I know what's going on. This isn't the real Palace."
"What are you talking about?"
"Tell everyone to fall back. We need to convene for a group meeting."
"What's this all about, Akira?" Makoto sat on the couch in Sojiro's living room and everyone else made themselves comfortable. Akira just pushed his glasses up and everyone stared at him.
"Yeah, what did you mean that wasn't the real Palace? That's ridiculous!" Futaba attempted to throw a pillow at him and he caught it, glaring. Tension settled over the Phantom Thieves. He only ever did that if he was deadly serious.
"I know Goro pretty well by this point even if he's not exactly…forthcoming with most things." This was an understatement. He really hadn't gotten any detail out of Goro about his history, let alone anything else, but he could read between the lines. Abused foster kid. Still abused. But that was neither here nor there at the moment.
"Think about the appearance of the Palace for a moment, then look at how he acts." Makoto clapped a hand over her mouth, the color draining from her face as her eyes widened. Akira nodded, but remained silent until (almost) everyone figured it out.
"The manor's empty. There won't be anything in there since it's just a ruse…" Makoto's voice quivered and Akira saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. She was probably beating herself up for not realising it first.
"I realised it when Futaba described what everyone else's experiences were. Are any of you familiar with the Winchester Mystery House?" At that, Ann looked over and nodded.
"Now that you mention it…it is a lot like that… I went there on vacation once. I thought something about the Palace felt familiar."
It made all too much sense. A large, decrepit manor that resembled one of the most famous houses meant to ward off angry, vengeful spirits…
It really hurt Akira to think just how much Goro had been damaged by the various abuses he'd suffered.
"How are we going to find the way to the real Palace then? It's going to take forever to find the entrance to the real one at this pace…" Makoto's shoulders slumped a bit and Akira ran a hand through his hair. That was definitely going to be a problem. They had limited time in general and they weren't going to be able to find their way without a map. The manor was over five stories tall, though he knew they'd have to find a way to the underground prison.
"…Perhaps there will be a visible marker on a door? It may be subtle, but there has to be something visual. Akechi-kun is good at masking and walling, but once you get past that, he's really quite easy to read…"
Akira blinked at Haru's observation. "…Haru, I think that might be it. He'd try to hide the entrance in plain sight. Makoto, what side of the doors were the handles on?" She blinked and stared at the random comment but fell silent. She looked up a few moments later though and nodded.
"They were all standard on the right. Are you thinking—"
"—it'll be on the left." Considering Goro's dominance and everything else, it made sense…in the way the Metaverse did, at least. It was subtle, but it would reveal the path to the true Palace.
"How do we find the right hallway though? And there'll probably be some sort of guardian for the door…" Makoto trailed off, looking down at her hands. The reality made Akira wince, but he shook it off as the realisation hit him.
"My hall was probably the right one. It was dark, straight, and silent. There wasn't anything." It was a long shot, but since it represented Goro's psyche and his distorted desires, it made the most sense. His life felt like nothing but long, hard stretch of darkness with nothing positive with oppressive silence. They had only covered four halls but…
He just knew.
"As for the guardian… We can beat it. Nothing's beaten us before. I'll just have to stock up on healing supplies." Takemi wasn't going to be happy with him raiding her pharmacy again so soon.
He had just the week prior.
I know that required some serious leaps in logic to figure out, but keep in mind we're dealing with symbolic representations of people's distorted desires. I think them having some serious Cloud Cuckoolander logic is warranted. Plus my Haru can be prone to it herself every now and then.
And, yes, the Leverage tabletop RPG is a Real Thing.