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Ren, distraught as he was from revisiting Akechi's death, knew he couldn't simply sit there crying. Taking in a few deep breaths and wiping away any stray tears, addressed his confidants. "After Akechi died, we sent Shido his calling card. I'm sure you all remember when we did that. We infiltrated his palace one last time and beat him, but that wasn't the end of it."
"What do you mean?" Masato asked, asking a question stemming from legitimate curiosity rather than doubt for the first time since the start of this meeting.
"When Shido first confessed to his crimes, we thought we were aces!" Ryuji yelled. "But after a little while, it seemed like nobody cared about it."
"It was worse than that." Ann corrected. "People were acting like it never happened. The news was talking about how he was in poor health and how his inauguration would be postponed. The Phantom Thieves were also being treated like they were frauds. We knew something was up. We had an entire nation whose heart needed to be changed. That's when Morgana came up with a plan." Ann reached down and pet Morgana in the spot that made him melt and purr to no end.
"L-Lady Ann…" He meowed blissfully.
"The plan was built around Mementos. I trust you remember us telling you all how Mementos was a palace for everyone? The collective unconscious?" The wild card asked, scanning the room as a wave of nods answered him. "Since Mementos is a palace, we figured that if we reached the bottom, we'd find the treasure of the people. If we stole it, it would trigger a change of heart en masse. So that's what we did. We fought our way to the depths of Mementos and saw something we never would have guessed to be down there…"
"What was it?" Kaoru asked.
"Every single person in Japan, including those whose hearts we stole, willingly imprisoned in cages and cells." The artist spoke. "It was a harrowing sight. We learned not long after finding them that they were imprisoned there because the masses desired to be shackles and controlled. To have no free will of their own and simply be led like lambs to the slaughter."
"And at the bottom, we found the holy grail." The team strategist took over. "A giant, black chalice with red, vein-like structures feeding into the top. We tried our best to beat it, but no matter how much damage we inflicted, the will of the people to be controlled healed it. Slowly, but surely, the grail turned gold after healing so much. After it was pure gold, the grail hit us with an attack that knocked us out of the metaverse and back into Shibuya. That's when things took a turn for the worse…" Makoto's eyes lingered on the floor as she remembered the sensation of dread that overtook her as she and the Phantom Thieves began disappearing from reality itself.
"The sky turned red and giant bones rose up into the sky. Worse than that, people began to fade from reality itself…" Haru explained, joining Makoto in remembering the horrifying ordeal they had gone through. "Each of us began to fade away, like we were being erased from existence To make matters worse, no one around us even acknowledged it. It truly felt as if we were never there to begin with."
"Well, you must have found some way out of it right?" Mishima deduced. "I mean, you're still here. The world didn't end."
"Well, we did find a way out of it, but not from anythin' we did."
"How do you mean?" Kawakami asked.
"We appeared in a place called the Velvet Room. It's a place I visited frequently during my time as a thief, but it's not important right now. Long story short, it's a place between dreams and reality. I'll explain more about it some other time." Ren insisted. "After we woke up there, we had to make a choice. Either accept to be controlled by some nebulous and evil… thing… or fight for ours and everyone elses freedom. We chose to fight. When we left the Velvet Room, we still had our masks and equipment, even though we were still in Shibuya. The grail was fusing reality and the metaverse. So we fought our way across the qliphoth. Those bones that were sprouting up everywhere. At the top, we met a being that was another manifestation of the grail. Yaldabaoth."
Ren continued on to explain their fight against the grail and how it eventually revealed its true form. A titanic being that employed the seven deadly sins to fight them. Fighting for what felt like hours, the Phantom Thieves battled the God of Control until they were beaten and drained of all energy. Unable to even summon their personas, the thieves were knocked down by an attack unlike any other.
"We were one attack away from being killed. But Mona saved us." He said, smiling at the cat. "He stood up and told that god where he could shove it. And because of that, because of his unyielding will, his voice reached the people. They were already beginning to see what was going on, but as soon as they heard Mona's speech, everyone started to rally behind us. Including all of you."
"Us?" They asked.
"I heard every single one of your voices cheer us on. It's because of all of you more than anything that I was able to stand back up."
"You did more than stand up, dude. You summoned a giant ass persona and shot the pompous dick in the face!" Ryuji excitedly recounted.
"And all because of them." He said, gesturing to his confidants.
"A giant persona?" Kimiko asked.
"Shit, that's right. You didn't see it, did you?" Iwai asked with his arms folded across his chest. "I only remember what I saw in my nightmares, but it was pretty damn crazy. It might have been bigger than Yalda-whatever."
"His name is Satanael. I used a trick that Akechi accidentally taught me in Shido's palace. When our Personas are summoned, ethereal chains float around them. They're chains over our hearts. He broke chains on shadows to make them stronger. It made them wild and uncontrollable, but they were stronger. I broke the chains around Arsène and he… Well, he basically exploded. But then Satanael came down from above the clouds. Actually, Yusuke, do you have a drawing?" He asked, remembering the drawing of his first persona.
The artist in question was taken aback by the question. "Do you truly believe that I could even make an attempt to capture the beauty and awe of that persona? He was too magnificent to even behold, let alone capture on a canvas!"
"Did Yusuke just low-key dis Arsène?" Futaba leaned in towards Ryuji.
"I don't even think he realises that he did it." The delinquent answered.
"Alright, moving on…" Ren continued, somewhat insulted and confused. "Summoning Satanael, I shot Yaldabaoth in the head and reality went back to normal. No one even remembered anything. Sae met with me in Shibuya after we went our separate ways and told me that I would have to turn myself into the authorities in order to ensure Shido was convicted."
"So then were all caught up, right?" Iwai asked. "You turned yourself in and got out in February."
"No. Something happened after that. Something that only the Phantom Thieves and Doctor Maruki know about."
"What are you talking about?" Sojiro asked. "I thought I was in on all of your dirt."
Ren shook his head. "Sorry Boss, not this."
"After Sae asked me to turn myself in, an unexpected guest showed up. Said he would turn himself in instead. Akechi."
"What?!" Ohya cried. "But you said he was dead?"
"I did. And he was…"