April 23rd, 20XX
Saturday.
"We're going in. Today."
"Alright then. Outside the station, correct?"
"You're getting ramen first."
"...Fine by me." He clicked off the phone.
Yusuke reluctantly picked at his ramen. Apparently, the message hadn't gotten through.
"Eat."
"I am."
"Eat faster. But don't get a stomach-ache."
"Why the rush?"
"Daylight hours are less suspicious to be poking around." Yusuke's chopstick slowed halfway out of the bowl.
"That... doesn't sound quite right…"
"Don't worry about it."
In truth, he just had some studying to do later, but his reasoning sounded cooler.
They walked next to the shack, into the alley.
"Okay, trial runs. Ichiryusai Madarame.
Bzzt.
"How does that work?"
"We need names, locations, and distortion."
"I see."
"Run-down shack."
Bzzt.
"And my sensei's will be similar to mine? It's hard to believe he would have such strange thoughts."
"...Yeah, same."
Sure, he was totally lying to Yusuke, but he was a special case. Idiot still believes in his master.
"And now we need the distortion?"
"Yep. Let me think… Well, he's an artist, isn't he? Museum."
Bzzt- Beginning navigation- Bzzt.
The world rippled red, as they traveled to the realm of cognition. The sky was a cloudy blue, and a towering structure filled their vision. It wasn't bound by style or shape, as it reached impossibly high into the sky, piercing even the clouds, and the only consistency seemed to be the golden peacock-like patterns on the geometry. The two stood in something like a parking lot.
"This… seems familiar." Ren turned to Yusuke, who had fallen to one knee and clutched his temple.
"Yusuke, did you eat before today?" He sighed.
"It isn't that. That tower, it reminds me of my distortion." He turned back to the tower.
"Now that you mention it, I can see what you mean. It looked a lot more shadowy in yours, but still."
Yusuke managed to stand back up. Seriously, can we get this guy to a gym?
"I'm ready. Let us commence."
The world froze and a blue door appeared in one of the empty parking spaces. It swung open, and Morgana tottered over.
"So that's where you were."
"I'm not your pet, don't patronize me. What's the plan, leader?"
"Leader?" Are you an idiot or something?
"Well, now that we have someone else with a Persona, and a navigator, it's fair to say we're a team now, isn't it?"
"I guess. But why am I the leader?"
"Do you trust the anemic to be in charge? And I can only fight with a sword!" The cat pulled a comically-large scimitar out of nowhere.
"Where did you get that?" He looked around Morgana's bobblehead.
"Not important. Anyway, I've been thinking, we ought to come up with code names."
"Why? Not that I'd mind having a bad-ass alter ego." The bobblehead rolled its eyes.
"Palaces are in the cognitive realm, the world of the collective unconscious. And while the owners may not know directly what happens in here, who knows what could happen if we go around yelling our names."
"They might look a little more closely at what we're doing." Ren guessed.
"Something like that, probably."
"Well, I'll be… Simon."
"No."
"Aw man. But-"
"NO!"
"Maybe… Arsene is a thief name, right?"
"No shit, sher-"
"That's the spirit! So Yusuke is… Tantalus, wasn't it?" Yusuke nodded, and he followed in turn. "Let's go with that."
"Well, what about me?"
"Totoro."
"That's a big 'no, thank you'."
"Fine, fine. Cheshire?"
"That sounds vaguely effeminate. And I'm male, obviously."
"Wouldn't it be better to throw them off the trail?"
"Maybe, uh… Shoot, what's a cat from Batman?"
"Are you serious?"
"Shaddup. And no, not Catwoman."
"Hell if I know. Tantalus, do you have any ideas?"
"Hm. That name will take some getting used to. Let me think." Yusuke took up what he could only assume was an artist's thinking pose, while he stared at Morgana. He looked around the bobblehead for a few minutes. He snapped his fingers and pointed at the cat. "We could name him after that American writer's cat."
"Who, H.P. Lovecraft?" He asked, jokingly, but knowing Yusuke-
"Yes! I believe the cat's name was-"
"YUSUKE, NO! You can't say that! We're Japanese!"
"What, 'Non-euclidian'?"
"Wha- What kind of cat name is that?"
"Well, what else would I be suggesting?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Wait a damn minute… Morgana, you're not even human, why do you need a code name?"
"Uh…"
Ren stepped back and winded up a kick, aimed squarely at the cat's dome.
"Wait! One more thing, Lavenza told me to ask if you have any Personae to fuse."
"...I could spare a few."
"Excuse me, who is Lavenza?"
Ren turned to Yusuke and tried to keep his thoughts about the barmaid to himself.
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to go stand in a corner for a bit, don't be worried."
"Alright?"
"Back so soon?" Minatos smirked at him, while drinking some kind of martini, with a white horn-like spike running through the olive.
"If you weren't an aspect of God, I'd be beating your ass right now."
"Don't let the big man hear you say that; He still believes in that guy."
"How do you reach god-status and still be a bible-thumper?"
"Ask him, I dunno."
"Trickster, would you like to fuse any of your Personae?" Lavenza danced around the bar with a tray that held four different glasses. One deep red, another sparkly, another orange, and one the same as what Minatos had.
"So my Personae literally were drinks…" He said to himself. "I'll take a Jack n' Bicorn, please."
"Right away," said Lavenza, sounding like more of a waiter than herself. Though I suppose, that's the trade-off of customer service.
"Oh, and shaken, not stirred."
"That's no way to make a martini." She said offhandedly while pouring the two drinks into a set of intake pipes.
"Oh. Take that, Bond!"
He heard something rushing from behind the bar, underneath him, and into the giant slot machine behind Igor. Haven't talked to him much, a shame.
The slots began spinning. One stopped on a cartoonish face of Jack O'lantern. The one next to it lit up with a similar face, this time it was Bicorn. Lights began flashing as the last slot began to slow. It stopped on a light teardrop with a face.
"Ah, Saki Mitama. An excellent choice, Trickster."
"I can summon Personae I've had before, right?"
"For a fee."
"I bought you Big Bang Burger."
"Well… If your choices aren't too extravagant, I'm sure I can bend the rules." She huffed.
"Let's try Bicorn."
Ren walked out of the Velvet Room, managing to keep most of his money after promising Lavenza he'd buy her more 'real' food later. He'd filled out his entire Persona stock. Arsene, Pixie, Berith, Slime, Succubus, and his new and most powerful Jack, that was of the Frost clan. He'd said something strange before turning into a mask.
"Da Boss Jack wants an audience with youz, hee ho!"
Whatever that meant. Eh, he'd deal with it later. Though he felt a bit woozy after all the drinks.
"Yus- Tantalus, I'm back."
"Yes. What were you doing in that blue room?" His question stopped Ren dead in his tracks.
"You can see it?" He pointed at it with his thumb over his shoulder.
"Of course. Is there something strange about it? You walked out a little later."
"Those bound by a contract may… Ah, Personae contracts. That makes sense." He mumbled to himself.
"One more thing, before we leave. How am I supposed to use my Persona?"
"Well, just take off your mask."
"How?"
"Well, just kinda… uh… Shit. Can you summon a card?"
"I don't think so…"
"Damn. Okay, new plan, we're going to get you equipment and come back here later."
"Whatever you believe the best course of action is, Arsene."
"Alright, Phantom Thieves, move out!"
I am thou
Thou art I
Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breakth thy chains of mortality.
With the bond of the Fool Arcana, Thou will obtain the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.
"Shut up, Morgana."
Crack.
"Oh, son of a-" Ren fell down to one knee, gunshots ringing in his ears, and distant screams piercing every brain cell.
THOU SHALT GAIN POWER THROUGH THE MADNESS OF THEE BONDS
"Ren, what's wrong!"
"Nothing. So, we're Phantom Thieves?"
"That's what we are, right? Sneaking into the palaces, and stealing the twisted desires of the unjust? That's what any good gentleman thief would do, neh?" Ren couldn't help but laugh at the cat's posturing. But...
I'm not a phantom yet.
"Takemi, my love!"
"Do you wanna get smacked?" She shot him an icy glare as he stumbled into the office.
"Joking, joking. Serves you right for the teasing- Anyway, I got some business stuff to talk about."
"Right. Head to the exam room. Though I can't imagine the medicine will go down well when you're drunk."
"Whatever, whatever, it'll wear off."
"I ought to report you." She clicked the lock on the door. "So, what did you want?"
"Friend o' mine, he's having trouble summoning his Persona."
"Is that a euphemism of some kind? I don't sell those kinds of pills-"
"No! I mean, he can't summon like you or I can."
"And I take it you don't have an evoker?"
"What's an evoker?"
"Right, I'll put in two orders…"
"Don't need two, I can summon without one."
"In the real world?"
"Well, not yet, but I can take on some attributes."
"Interesting." She looked like she was thinking. "I'll get the evoker to you in a few weeks."
"Weeks?"
"An evoker is shaped like a gun, used to summon the user's Persona, via the perception of death. Something like that, I'm not an expert. It's hard to ship stuff like that all the way from Yakushima on a whim."
"Yakushima?"
"Ah. Forget I said that."
"Are you ever going to tell me about this 'group' you work with?"
"I'm just a contact of a smaller cell of shadow operatives."
"The hell are those?"
"The name is self-explanatory. And I barely know anything about what goes on with the higher-ups, so I couldn't tell you."
"Damn."
"And as I said, I can't test medicine if you're drunk. Do you need anything else?"
"I'm not *hic*- Okay, maybe a little."
"Then get out of my clinic!"
"Talk to you later *hic* Boss!"
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Death Arcana.
"I said get out!"
"Damn teenagers." She shook her head and scrolled down to Yukari's contact.
"Tae-san? What's up?" The doctor answered after a few rings.
"I need to get an evoker up here."
"You need one of those? What for? I know you don't use them."
"Just a… side project of mine."
"Is it a boy?" Takemi shook her head at her coworker-turned-friend's comment.
"Since when are you a comedian?"
"I'm just joking, jeez. Fine, I'll ask Mitsuru for a spare. You're still at that backstreet clinic, right?"
"Yes, thank you. When do you get off work?"
"Just stepped into my office, I'll be out soon. Why?" She pinched the bridge of her nose thinking about the brat that was getting mixed up in all this.
"I think I could use a drink…"
"Alright, but you know where we ended up last time."
"It was an accident, I know. It's not like you were trying to push me in there."
"I'm not the best drinker, what can I say? Nothing like..." She trailed off.
"Your ex?"
"Yeah... Same bar in Shinjuku, same time as usual?"
April 24th, 20XX
Sunday, Sunday, nothing to do. Studying is boring. Ren lazed about in his room, half-listening to the news about mental shutdown cases downstairs.
Hey, the phone buzzed.
"Trickster, I believe you said you would take me to another locale?"
He could do worse.
Ren wore his casual clothes as he stepped in the Velvet Room. He stopped next to Igor, feeling a little bit bad for neglecting the owner of the room.
"How's your day going, Igor?"
The man simply chuckled and waved him off.
"I believe you have a previous engagement. Don't spend your precious time with old noses like myself." O-kayeeee…
"Lavenza. How'd you get my phone number?"
"Dial-up." She gestured off-handedly to a payphone in the corner.
"How do land-lines even work here?" He pulled out his phone, tabbing through to look for the call in his history- and couldn't find it.
"Perhaps you simply imagined the call." Ren shook his head, dismissing the line of thought.
"Whatever. Where did you want to go?"
"Minatos-" That can't mean anything good.
"I can hear you, y'know!"
"Shut up, Minatos."
"-He said that humans gather in rooms with large screens and a singular projector."
"So a movie theater?"
"Is that what it's called? Very well."
"There's one in Shibuya, so I've got no problem with it."
They bought tickets for two, though Ren felt a little silly buying an adult ticket for Lavenza.
When they got inside for concessions, Ren felt like his life was about to end. 'Why?' you may ask.
Because it was a Sunday, and Shujin had the day off. No uniforms, but there were a few familiar faces.
Like half the people he knew.
It's not even Golden Week, what the hell is this?
Apparently, a remaster of an old shoujo sports movie had been released the night before. Shujin had its fair share of athletic types. And women. A lot of women. Many of which he knew, and were…
In the theater.
Several heads turned towards him. Or rather, the velvet-clad attendant next to him.
Damn that barmaid outfit.
"Lavenza… Is there somewhere you'd rather go?"
"Is there a problem with staying here?"
"Not necessarily…" He resigned himself to his fate. The line for snacks wasn't too terribly long. Get in, get out, thirty-minute adventure.
"Trickster, what kind of refreshment would you recommend?" He got strange looks from passersby.
"...Lavenza, can you not call me that in public?" He whispered.
"It would be improper to not refer to you by your title, correct?"
"That doesn't really matter to me, y'know. Just say Ren."
"Oh, but that would be much too improper for an attendant."
"Please, just- not that."
"How should I refer to you, then?"
"Just say-"
"Ren! Hey!" He felt a blush creeping up his neck as Ann and Shiho approached.
"Who's Ren?" He stuttered out, ignoring how the attendant swerved to greet the two.
"Greetings."
"Hello." She raised her eyebrow at Ren, who turned away. For all the badass posing, he couldn't handle a few women? Minatos would be laughing his ass off. "So… whatcha doing here, Ren?" She asked playfully. Thank god, I might not get my ass beat today.
"Well, y'know… Just here to see a movie."
"Really? This movie?"
"Uh…"
"With… What's your name?"
"Lavenza."
"Right. With Lavenza?"
"Uh…"
"Together. Alone. With no one else."
"..." He covered his face, like a face-palm, but with noticeable redness beneath. Ann burst out laughing.
"I gotta say, I didn't think you'd be into this kinda movie."
"Wasn't my idea…" He muttered.
"..."
"What?"
"...You lucky bastard," whispered Ann.
"What?"
"Ann, it makes sense, considering," Shiho said, gesturing lightly to Ren.Ann nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. He moves fast."
"What?" You're choosing to ignore the obvious, asshole.
Ren ended up buying all of the food because they stuck in line with him.
"Sorry to cockblock, Ren." She laughed. He nearly tripped over his own feet, his face turning red. He bumped into a huge bucket of popcorn. The person holding the popcorn poked their head around the bucket.
And it was Kasumi. Because of course it was. Damn athletes. Was there some kind of school-sponsored event at the theater?
"Ren? What are you…" The girl trailed off, seeing everyone following Ren. Her eyes honed in on Lavenza, probably remembering the rumors from earlier that week. "So-"
"Ran into a few people in line." He quickly explained, not wanting to answer any awkward questions.
"Ah. Would you mind if I joined you?"
Kasumi has joined the party.
Ren desperately wished he had another guy with them in the theater. Even Mishima would help save him from the hell he was soon to be in. He sat between Kasumi and Lavenza, with the other two in the group sitting to the attendant's right. He felt an odd sense of pressure in the air, emanating from the red-head.
He didn't have any specific gods to pray to, but he hoped that one of them would help him out.
For his own safety, he chose to not make any moves and just sit silently.
"Interesting, this is a 'movie,' correct? I believe my sister mentioned something about these."
"Yes."
Yes, it was blunt, but the less he thought about his impending death, the better.
Isn't life supposed to be less mundane when you fight demons? Since when did he have time for this? Seriously, if his biggest problems were women, that probably meant he didn't have much going on. Get to work.
"Have I missed out on some etiquette?" She asked, causing Ren to notice an assortment of couples starting… couple activities a few rows down. He could feel his face turning red, in the dimmed theater. Luckily, the damned thing started playing before he could answer.
It started out like any other 2000's teen comedy, you know the kind. Rock music, skateboarders, guys with emo haircuts-
Wait, what?
Minatos floated around in front of the screen. Ren reached out to keep Lavenza from pointing him out. Fewer people that knew about him, the better.
"Good luck getting out of this one, Renny-boy!"
I'm going to kill that bastard, I swear to god. Not the one with blue hair, because fuck that guy, just by association.
"Is this part of the etiquette?" Ren noticed that he was holding Lavenza's hand, and kept his head facing straight dead ahead. He could feel Kasumi burning a hole into the side of his head. "Miss Kasumi, could you 'pass the popcorn'?" Okay, new plan, write up a list of people to throw into a guillotine. "Was that the correct phrasing?" She leaned into him, whispering. He carefully handed her the bucket while noting how much he needed a cold shower.
Minatos would definitely be laughing at him, no doubt about it.
She nuzzled into his neck, wrapping her arms around his; Probably without thinking about it. Seriously, who in their right mind would do that to Ren Amamiya, the loser from the sticks?
"This is… proper, is it not?"
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Strength Arcana.
Not now, creepy voices, first of all-
COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD
Thank you, Jack Frost.
Stop being horny-ho!
He separated himself from the situation entirely, starting to think about how many buckets of ice he was going to use when he got home.
"I'm going to die," he said under his breath. He heard Ann snort.
"Hey, at least he can recognize it."
Due to the state of hypothermia he'd put himself under, he didn't really watch most of the movie. Couldn't remember much of what happened after the beginning. Or the middle. Or the ending.
Funny how that happens. Jack Frost thankfully reversed it after the lights turned back on. He didn't feel all that cold, maybe it was a psychological- Wait, I'm a dumbass.
"Great to see everyone, I gotta go!" He tried to bolt towards the exit. Kasumi reached out and collared him. You know those menacing lines they put on characters in that show? Yeah, it was like that, but infinitely more intimidating.
"I think you owe us an explanation, Amamiya-san." He briefly felt like a caged rat, being hung by a few strings.
"You can keep the jacket." He slipped out of it and kept running. He'd deal with it later.
Somehow Lavenza caught up with him outside the theater, and he decided it would be rude to not take her back to the room. The Velvet Room- Christ, he needed that ice bath.
"Minatos."
"Yeah, kid?"
Clunk. Is that the right sound? Whatever.
He punched him right across the bar. It only smashed empty bottles, so probably not too damaging to his psyche.
"Lightweight."
"I'm a shadow, of course I am. You think I have the time to have all of my being here constantly?"
"You clearly do whenever it can cause me trouble."
"You're trying to sound badass when you're just whining. You know that docks you a few points."
Arsene picked up the nonchalant shadow and threw him into a wall.
"You know, I don't feel pain. I barely exist here."
"Stop getting in my way."
"Of what? You're doing fine as is. But no, Ren Amamiya, you can't have the harem you've always wanted, I'm sorry to be the guy to say it. Settle for one woman, god knows Minato couldn't!"
"I'm not Minato Arisoto or Arisato or whoever that is."
"That's obvious. And if you were fighting him instead of me, you'd be a splatter of red in no time."
"Bastard."
"Yeah, you've got nothing else to say, I can tell. Watch yourself."
"-And I'm not trying to start a harem."
"Don't lie to me. You earn a little bit of charisma and power, and you suddenly think you're the protagonist. That was actually true for Minato, but how about you? Whoops, I don't think you can handle that."
"Just shut the hell up."
"You came in here. I'll see you later." The shadow faded away.
Ren shook his head and sat down at the bar.
"That guy really gets on my nerves."
"I don't think he has that effect on everyone…" Lavenza absent-mindedly looked at him with concern while getting out two glasses.
AN:
Ren guessing the distortion on the first try is reasonable, considering I did it on my first playthrough, and I'm no sherlock holmes. Or Arsene lupin, for that matter. The HP Lovecraft thing is edgy, yeah, but it was funny when I wrote it.
Yeah, the second day is basically Minato's Long Date, but it was fun.
Ren's a Persona protagonist, and we all know about harem routes in JRPGs. I don't think he was consciously trying to do it, maybe he's just a loser. It won't be a major plot point anyway, don't worry about it. Probably.
arata7kasuga- Good to hear it. Thanks for the review. You may notice that there aren't any pairings listed ;)