Hello folks, it's time for another episode of Phantom Thieves.
I don't really have much to say so I'll just get into the chapter.
[[]]
"How far back was the last sign?" Skull muttered as he held his arms close to his chest, his breath slightly visible.
"About twenty minutes back." Queen said, "We shouldn't be too much farther from Atlas."
"Thank goodness." Mona sighed, his voice coming from the dashboard, "I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"We drove you around a l-lot more than this in Mementos Mona." Panther pointed out.
"Yeah, but never all in one sitting." Mona shouted, "We took breaks at rest stops we found every so often!"
"He's got a point." Oracle said.
"How are you doing Joker?" Noir asked.
"My legs are getting stiff." Joker said flatly.
"Dude that's what you're complaining about?" Skull asked, "I think I'm starting to lose feeling in my toes."
"I'm surprised of the lack of unique scenery." Fox muttered looking out the window, "All I've seen for miles is snow and ice, with the occasional tree."
"There's been nothing but snow for miles now, you'd think we've have seen some form of civilization by now." Noir mused.
"Well considering the threat the Grimm pose I don't think it would be a good idea to build a village with so little surrounding it." Queen said, "With no natural defenses the Grimm can come from every angle."
"Queen! Brakes!" Mona shouted suddenly.
Queen's head shot to the center of the window and slammed both her feet on the brakes, pulling Mona to a halt, stopping just a few centimeters from a woman.
"Lavenza?" Joker asked in confusion the moment he saw the familiar blue clad girl.
"Is she trying to get run over or something!?" Skull shouted as Lavenza walked to the driver's seat and opened the door.
"Excuse me, I'd like to drive." Lavenza said.
"Uh... sure." Queen said as she unbuckled herself and climbed into the back seats, while Lavenza sat in the driver's seat.
"So... what are you doing here?" Panther asked as Lavenza started driving them along.
"I've found suitable entry into Atlas for you, one where you won't have to slip past guards to enter." Lavenza said as she drove through the snowfield surprisingly smoothly, "I've also managed to get you all a two month lease in a rented house, after that you'll have to start paying for yourself."
"I don't think we're planning to stay any longer than that anyway." Joker said, "Some of us can't stand the cold."
"Not to mention the cold weather isn't good for plants." Noir added.
"I suspected as much." Lavenza said, "I've also come to tell you that your false documents are in place, as far as Atlas and all of Remnant are concerned, you and your friends moved to Atlas from a nomadic tribe a little under half a year ago."
"That's good." Queen said, "That way if we have to pull a heist within the month it won't seem like we came here just to steal something... Even if it only is someone's Treasure."
"I had thought the same." Lavenza said, "Finally, I've managed to procure you all Scrolls, this world equivalent of cell phones, and have finished exchanging your funds for that which is accepted in Remnant."
"How much do we have in comparison to Yen?" Oracle asked, "It's good to know what counts as a lot of money and a little so we don't get scammed."
"Just one of Remnant's Lien is equivalent to ten of Japan's Yen." Lavenza said as she opened 'Le Grimoire', which she had sat in between her and Panther, with one hand, revealing eight wallets, "I've also taken the moment to give Morgana funding equivalent to Ann's."
The seven Phantom Thieves took the wallets from the book, which held their scrolls and banking cards, as well as their I.D.'s and passed them around a bit so that everyone had their own, while Joker held his and Morgana's.
"Thanks." Joker said with a smile.
"I'd also like for you to know this, but your banking accounts are all connected to the Velvet Room." Lavenza said, "That way you will not draw any suspicion in the event any of you accidentally deposit an excessive amount of Lien into your Bank account."
"Yeah, that would be a shitty way of getting caught." Skull nodded in agreement, "I'm surprised Akira never got caught actually, considering the sheer amount of cash we got from the Palaces and Mementos."
"I only deposited fragments at a time." Joker said, before explaining further. "Made it look like I was simply getting paid from a part time job."
"Speaking of Part-time jobs, you really worked yourself to the bone back in your second year." Mona said from the dashboard, "I'm amazed you managed to do so well with them all."
"I've also been sent to tell you that Igor's master has re-created access to the Metaverse for your own personal use," Lavenza said, "As of this moment you eight are the only ones capable of entering the Metaverse."
"That's good." Panther said, "At least we won't have to worry about someone like Akechi running in and killing people's Shadow's without us knowing," she said...before a thought crossed their minds.
"Wait...did you say 're-created access'?" Futaba asked.
"That is correct," Lavenza nodded. "Remnant already has a Metaverse, and while we are unsure if its circumstances are the same as the one you encountered before, it has nevertheless been closed off from the 'real world' until we created an access way," she explained.
"Interesting…" Mona mused from the dashboard. "But how do we know that it wasn't created by something like Yaldabaoth?"
"That, we have not been able to determine. However, we are aware that there are a few fundamental differences between this world's Metaverse and that of Earth. All of which you will find soon enough, especially when you enter Mementos. But for now, we are here." Lavenza said slowing the van to a stop, followed by everyone hopping out and Mona turning back into a Faunus, having decided not to pursue this line of questioning any further for now.
The group had stopped in front of a tall, white, metal wall that sectioned off Atlas from the wilds.
"Are you expecting us to climb this?" Fox asked in surprise.
"Not at all." Lavenza said stepping up to a panel in the wall and pulling it aside surprisingly easily, "I expect you to walk through."
"That makes much more sense." Joker said as his clothes and weapons vanished in blue flames, returning him to his casual winter wear, with the addition of a large, black wool coat.
The others made similar changes, all of them also having on wool coats in the same color of their normal shirts.
As Mona looked as though he were about to change form Lavenza held up her hand to the faunus, "Morgana, I would recommend you take the from of a cat while you are in Atlas." Lavenza said, "Atlas is the... least friendly kingdom toward the Faunus at the current time."
Mona nodded before in a flash of blue flames he was back in his cat form, and as quickly picked up by Akira and put in his bag (Which was actually rather warm.)
"Thanks for the help Lavenza." Akira said.
"You're welcome." Lavenza said with a smile.
[Salem's Fortress]
[OST- Persona 5: Desire]
Within a fortress that stood unharmed in a dark wasteland filled with Grimm and lacking any form of plant life, stood a woman that was looking at a rather unusual type of Grimm.
The woman had deathly white skin, covered in purple veins on her face and arms, The sclerae of her eyes were jet black and her irises glowed red, she had a black diamond-shaped marking in the center of her forehead. She was wearing a very long black robe with red designs resembling eyes on her back, she also wore a ring resembling an insect on her right index finger, her hair was white and was formed into a bun with six offshoots from which ornaments were suspended.
This was a woman known only as Salem, often thought to be the queen of the Grimm.
The Grimm she was looking at was an orb like creature with several dozen tendrils hanging below it, this was a Grimm known as a Seer.
"Interesting." Salem mused as she looked into the Seer, which was showing her the scene of Joker summoning Arsene, "A power such as that would prove just as, if not possibly more useful as that of the Maiden's Power."
Waving the Seer away Salem turned and began to walk to her bedroom, determined to find a way to convince, or if need be, manipulate the Phantom Thieves into joining her side.
Too bad for her she would find the task utterly daunting, as little did she know it would be impossible for her to get them on her side.
[OST End]
[Atlas]
"Finally, warmth." Ryuji said as the group of seven walked into a small building, which fortunately had seven beds.
"I'll start looking up the basics of this world." Futaba said as she went over the bed she decided would be hers and opened up her Scroll to the size of a tablet.
"I wonder what's on T.V." Ann said picking up a remote, then looked around the room, "...where is the T.V.?"
"Why don't you just point at a wall until something comes on?" Haru said, "I mean if the technology here has Scrolls that are holographic, wouldn't the same be for the T.V.'s?"
"She has a point." Yusuke said, "The technology of this world is much further ahead than ours."
With that in mind Ann began to point at walls randomly until finally a holographic television came on, "There we go." Ann said proudly.
"In other news." A woman on the T.V. said as the channel it was on was a news channel, "Another Faunus riot took place in front of the Schnee Dust Company main headquarters. According to local witnesses the Faunus were rioting about inferior payment for their hard work. The CEO of the SDC, Jacques Schnee denies that he pays Faunus unfairly, claiming that all SDC Faunus SDC workers are paid the same amount as the human workers."
"You can easily make an assumption just based on that." Makoto muttered, "He might not even be telling the truth."
"Oh he's telling the truth." Futaba said suddenly, "Just not the whole truth."
"Whaddya mean?" Ryuji asked.
"Well, instead of doing a quick search on Remnant's history, I hacked into the SDC records." Futaba said smirking, "Turns out Atlas barely has any firewalls up to prevent this kind of thing from happening."
"It's kinda scary how fast you did that." Morgana said as he hopped onto the bed next to Futaba.
"I've pulled up the payroll for Faunus and they're all getting paid the exact same thing." Futaba said, "And looking up the Atlas minimum wage policy... looks like all Faunus are getting paid minimum wage, even the ones that have been working at the place for ten years or more."
"What about the wages for human workers?" Akira asked.
"Fairly normal." Futaba said, "Rookies are paid minimum wage and the longer workers get paid more."
"So basically the guys a racist bastard." Ryuji said in an almost deadpan tone.
"More than that." Futaba said pulling up another screen and after a few minutes continued speaking, "I just looked into his family records, turns out the guy wasn't even born a Schnee, he married into that name."
"Was it an arranged marriage?" Haru asked.
"Not sure." Futaba said, "What I do know is that Jacques has three kids, two daughters named Winter and Weiss, and a son named Whitely."
"Who is the current heir to the SDC then?" Makoto asked.
"As of this moment that would be... Weiss Schnee." Futaba said, "Huh... Even though Winter is older Weiss is the heir... wonder why?"
"Maybe she had a bit of a falling out with her old man?" Ryuji suggested.
"We don't know the relationship between him and his family though." Yusuke said, "It could be a number of reasons."
"Nope, Ryuji's right." Futaba said, "Apparently Winter Schnee joined the Atlesian military without her Father's consent, supposedly Jacques was outraged the moment he heard about it but soon accepted it."
"He just accepted it?" Ann asked, "Just like that?"
"It's almost as if he doesn't mind the position his daughter took after he thought it out..." Yusuke mused, "What's her current position in the military?"
"Lets see..." Futaba said quietly as her fingers flew across her holographic screen, "She's currently a Specialist in the Military, which is apparently the position of a Huntsman or Huntress."
"The hells a Huntsman and Huntress exactly?" Ryuji asked.
"Let me check..." Futaba muttered switching screens, "Okay so a Huntsman is a person who has gone through several years of training to combat the Grimm, armed with a weapon that is usually combined with a gun, Aura, and Semblance they are difficult to take down in a fight."
"Back to Schnee, we can look up the rest of these terms later." Akira said.
"Right, so Jacques decided to shift the title of Heiress to Weiss after Winter joined the military." Futaba said, "She received several tutors in how to run the company, as well as a few tutors to learn how to fight as a Huntress to defend herself... It seems Whitely is receiving identical lessons at the moment, minus Huntsman training."
"It's like he's raising his son to take over the SDC in case Weiss steps out of her boundaries." Makoto said.
Akira pulled out his Scroll and quickly noticed the red and black eye app sitting in the middle of the screen, taping his thumb to it he opened the app and spoke into the Scroll, "Jacques Schnee." Akira said.
"Candidate Found." The app replied, before the screen shifted to another, which had three blanks spaces, one of which soon added the name Jacques Schnee, all while a dark purple distortion rippled around them.
"He's got one." Akira said, looking up from his scroll.
"Wow, we've not even been here a full day and we're already targeting someone's Palace." Ann said, before looking around at the rest of the group. "Are there any objections?"
"None here." Ryuji said.
"I have no objections myself." Yusuke said.
"With the way he's treating the Faunus I'm willing to bet he's one of the main reasons Atlas has such a negative opinion of the Faunus at the moment." Makoto said.
"Alright then." Futaba said closing her scroll, "Let's see if we can figure out the other two keywords."
"A location and a distortion right?" Ryuji mused, "Been a while since we did this, we usually start with the location right?"
"It is the easier of the two to figure out." Yusuke said with a nod, "Let's see... we'll start with the most obvious option. Schnee Dust Company headquarters."
"No candidates found." The app responded.
"So... where does he live then?" Makoto said, "If it's not his workplace the next likely place is his home."
"- Due to the recent severity of the White Fang attempt to attack the SDC." The news reported continued as the T.V. had not be turned off, "Jacques Schnee has increased security at the Schnee Family Mansion."
"Well... how about the Schnee Family Mansion then?" Ann asked.
"Candidate Found." The app announced, causing another ripple.
"Well that was convenient." Haru said, "Now the hard part, the distortion."
"It could be anything." Akira said, "Without knowing how his mind works we're just grasping at straws."
"Let's just try anyway." Ryuji said, "But let's find out where he lives first, that way we can get into his Palace quickly... and so we can find it in the first place."
"Already on it." Futaba said, before bringing up a map of the city, and a path to their next destination.
[Schnee Family Mansion, Front Gates]
The group of seven stood a fair distance outside the family mansion, far enough away that they wouldn't arouse suspicion. Even at this distance they could see how big it was. Clearly the Schnee family had profited greatly from their trade.
"Right distortions..." Ryuji said once they were done staring at the mansion which was honestly bigger than even Haru's mansion. "Maybe a slave camp?"
"Conditions have not been met." The app announced.
"Why would he think of his own house as a slave camp?" Futaba asked.
"Hey Madarame thought of his shack as a museum." Ryuji defended, "There really aren't any rules to these Palaces after all."
"True." Ann admitted, "Maybe a factory?"
"Nope." Akira said looking at his Scroll.
"With how much he seems to sway to controlling others... perhaps a Theater of some kind?" Yusuke asked.
"Conditions have not been met." The app announced.
"A good guess, but no." Akira said before going silent again... The situation with Jacques reminded him of something, though slightly differently.
"What's on your mind Akira?" Morgana asked popping his head out the bag.
"Yeah..." Akira said, "Where have we seen just a single group of people treated like slaves out of an entire buildings worth?" It wasn't asked like a question he didn't know the answer to, but a question that Ryuji and Ann could answer.
"Yeah, Kamoshida's Palace, the boys in the Volleyball team were nothing more than Slaves in his eyes." Ryuji said.
"It was a place of control," Akira said, "And held slaves just out of sight."
"A castle." Morgana said aloud.
"Conditions have been met." Announced the App as another ripple shifted through the world, only this one was far more prolonged.
[[]]
Okay to be honest, I wanted to continue this chapter a little longer, however I've been trying to write this chapter for 3 days now with all the interruptions and it's kinda getting on my nerves.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this because next chapter we're gonna be going through Jacques's Palace... I also need to hurry up and decided what Shadow's the group will encounter in there.