What We Sacrifice for Family and Love
[Before you guys chase me with pitchforks. No, Akira isn't going to get a mouth present this chapter, I think this is the first time not using the sneak peek because I want to keep the plot going. Besides; they were going to get interrupted anyways if I did use the last sneak peek but it that's an idea about how it will start though when Ann does get the courage to do it. Anyway, what was originally going to happen when Akira was going to reveal the Metaverse to his mother, was that Orika was going to get a little 'excited' seeing Arsene before Akira explained that he was his rebellious side given shape making Reiko just start freaking out about hitting on man who is supposed to be like her son making everything awkward but I couldn't make it work.]
Reiko sighs; "I should have figured that you were this phantom thief especially their leader...All this talk about phantom thieves started happening just as soon as you got here..."
Akira sighs; "Yeah...But it wasn't my intention to do any of this. It all just happened so fast and you wouldn't believe me until I show you. But first, I should tell Ann's parents because she's also one, as well as the others...I'm sorry for not telling you and for doing it, I just couldn't let what happened to me, happen to others..."
Sighing, she goes up to him and hugs him; "I understand, my son...You were always the one who wanted to help everyone."
He hugs her back; "Thank you mother. I'm sure that I get it all that kindness from you..."
She lets go chuckling; "You actually have both of us in you." She smiles seeing his surprised face; "Your father may be always about respect but he also is a gentleman. He wasn't about respect because he wanted people to bow down to him...He was about it because he hated how much people treat each other. How they don't show any respect for each other and how people would judge others instead of accepting who they are or being kind to each other. So, he joined the council so he can try to make a difference and try to at least make Japan a better place. But he started changing soon after your incident with Emily and your 'friend'. And since he was part of the city council in Nikko, your false crime made it worst for him, we were constantly harassed by the locals and sometimes they wanted to exile us from town while we were looking for your new school...and it soon became too much that he had decided to disown you even with me begging him. He made the announcement during one of the meetings, which it actually worked. Then he started acting like respect is all about control and making people bow down to you. The complete opposite of his real self...And when we found Shujin Acadamy through a friend of ours and they introduced us to Sojiro. But what surprised me...was that he was begging Sojiro not to tell you...Like he was fighting against how he was acting in Nikko..."
He looks down not knowing that about his Father; "Father...I never knew..." "He actually is a good person..."
She nods; "Yes...He wanted to keep his work away from you because he didn't want people to use you to get to him...But it didn't work obviously. I just don't get it though...The town was happy that your Father disowned you...Like the town just wanted you to be erased from existence...But I guess it does make sense seeing how your Father is well respected..."
"That is strange...Why would he become normal when he was out of your hometown but different back there? And why is the town want you gone so bad...?" "I don't know...It's just really strange. Especially how Mother described how the town is acting when it comes to me..." He nods; "I understand, Mother. But with what you had said about Father begging Sojiro to not tell me. Maybe there is more to what's going on with him..."
She nods; "I believe so too...I guess I'll just have to wait till you 'change' his heart..." She looks down in sadness; "But...is there a chance that he may...lose himself like those other people who had a change of heart or...the one who ended up dead with the black ooze coming out of his eyes and mouth...?"
"No...He won't be like Haru's father because that involves killing their inner evil but if I don't stop him now, then he will gain something far worse and he will lose himself when we do change his heart..." He looks at her; "Maybe it will be easier to just show you besides I have to tell Ann parents..." Reiko slowly nods still confused about everything happening but puts on the scarf before they head back to the group.
Once they come back, Akira clears his throat; "Guys...We have one or maybe two more hearts that we need to change..." Everyone but Ann's parents gasp in shock from him basically admitting that they were the ones changing the hearts in front of Akira's mother and Ann's parents.
"Dude! What the eff are you doing!?" Ryuji says while quickly getting up "Are ye out o' yer mind, Cap'n!?"
"It doesn't matter anymore, Ryuji. I already told my Mother and besides, Shido was going to be our last mission anyways. Well...till now..." He looks at Orika and Lukas; "And, yes, Mr. and Ms. Takamaki. Ann is a phantom thief as well and it is how we were able to stop Kamoshida's evil."
Orika laughs thinking he was joking; "Oh, please, Akira. There is no way that you and Ann are phantom thieves. Especially Ann, I mean, she was able to hide you but to hide doing something like stealing someone's 'heart' from us. Ann is bad at keeping secrets."
"Hey! You shouldn't say that about your own daughter! Even though it's kind of true!" She shakes her head; "A-Anyway, Akira is right...I am a Phantom Thief and even though I was surprised he's admitting it..." She looks at Reiko; "I know he has a good reason for it..." "Why are you being so calm about this!? We could get in trouble! Especially Akira!" "Oh, stop it...I'm not going to make Akria a liar in front of my mother besides, it can't be that bad..."
Orika glares at Akira; "So you were hiding something like this from me and making my daughter do something that could be dangerous!?"
"Nevermind..." Ann steps in front of Akira before he says anything; "It wasn't his fault, mom! It was my own fault! I made him take me because I wanted to save Shiho no matter what!"
"And how does saving Shiho have anything to do with making him take you on these stealing these 'hearts'!?"
Akira sighs; "Well...I will have to show you but not everyone here since it will be too much and besides, we don't need to look like we all just disappeared..." "That would be a good idea..." "Though you should come too Morgana to explain things."
Once again, they go to the private area with Akira, Ann, their parents, and Morgana. And once they get there, Akira brings out his phone and then presses the app making their parents hold their heads from the distortion, like everyone else that comes in for their first time.
Reiko shakes her head of the wooziness; "That's weird...I felt a little woozy there..."
Orika shakes her head as well; "Yes..." He then looks at Akira; "What just happened...Did you do something with your phone?"
That's when they hear a shriek; "W-What happened to your cat!? I...It looks humanoid...and weird looking...!" Lukas yells
Morgana glares at him; "I'm not weird looking! And I am not a cat either! My name's Morgana!" "How dare you talk down to us you weak looking man!" The three adults jump back in shock hearing both Morgana and then Zorro.
"D-Did this thing just talk!? And did you just talk in a Spanish accent in your mind!?" Orika yells at Morgana
Akira facepalms; "I should have known that it was going to be a bad idea to bring you here Morgana and I meant because of Zorro..." He the lowers his hand and sighs; "Well, since Zorro doesn't know how to shut up when Morgana gets a little insulted, you might as well come out Arsene..." "Alright then...I just hope your mother is alright with this..." That's when Arsene comes out of Akira and thankfully, the area was tall enough for him to stand; "Greetings, you three, I am Arsene. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ann's parents and especially you, Akira's mother..."
After seeing Arsene, Lukas and Orika were even more shocked from seeing Morgana to now seeing that there was another person that just came out of Akira. But, Reiko, was shocked but walked closer to Arsene; "What are you...I should be scared but I feel oddly calm around you..."
"Well...It's because I'm a part of Akira that has been given a physical form. So, the reason why you're so calm around me, is because technically, I am your son but not at the same time." Seeing his mother's confusion, he and Morgana explain to them about everything dealing with the Metaverse.
"Okay...So, you use these personas to fight these shadow things and you find out what these people's desires are, then take what causes their desires to go into overload and that makes them spew out their guilt. But everyone has these desires and the more they indulge in them, they start to become these palaces? Is that what I'm getting from what you two explained?" Reiko asks
Akira nods; "Yeah...I don't know how bad Father is...But what he did to you...I have a feeling that he is close to gaining a palace now..."
Ann sighs but looks at her parents; "But that's why I said that I forced Akira to join him. I was so desperate to take down Kamoshida that I made him show me how he was going to do it. I promised him that I would let him do everything but I lied...and I got the app that made us go here by myself and ended up getting capture then I awakened to Carmen..." And that's when Carmen comes out of her; "Hello, my dearies! It's so wonderful to finally meet you all!"
Orika and Lukas were again shocked seeing their daughter having a persona but that's when Orika gasps once the shock wears of; "Oh my god...That outfit is gorgeous!" She yells in excitement letting her fashionista spirt come out
Carmen looks at her in confusion not expecting that response; "U-Um...Thank you?"
She quickly goes up to her and starts looking over her dress; "My word, it truly is magnificent!" She looks up at her; "And that mask is divine as well! May I use it as my next design!?"
"R-Really!?" She gasps and looks at Ann; "Did you hear that, Ann dear! My outfit is going to be famous! I might be famous!"
"Um...Orika, my love. Maybe this isn't the right time for this..." Lukas says embarrassed
"Huh?" She looks back at him and then shakes her head; "Oh...yes, you are right." She looks back at Ann and sighs; "I suppose that I can't get mad at Akira for something that you did yourself. But it is still dangerous, though I can't really say anything since I don't know anything about this." She sighs again; "I guess I will have to accept that you're a phantom thief but on one condition...I want Carmen to model for me!"
"M-Me...A-A model..." She then faints but Arsene catches her. Ann sighs; "That's kind of impossible...But I'll just let her dream for now."
Akira walks up to his mother who was staring at Arsene; "I know it's a lot to take in, mother...But without this power, I would have never been happy ever again..."
She nods; "I can tell...Just as long as you don't use this power for evil then I won't bother you about it ever."
He smiles; "I'm glad to hear it..." He hears her sigh; "What's wrong?"
"Your, uh, 'persona', Arsene was it? He reminds me of how your father was..." She looks over at him; "Please, bring him back. Find out what is going on with him and...If he does have this palace...Try to convince him to stop it instead of changing his heart..."
He nods; "I will try. I promise..."
An Hour Later
Everyone walks out of the building and after the group says their goodbyes and wish Akira a happy birthday again, they leave and it was only Ann, Akira, their parents and Emily. Ann looks at Akira; "I'm sorry that your birthday wasn't as great as I had hoped..." "Yeah...It wasn't really that great of a birthday party..."
He smiles at her; "Don't be like that, I'm just glad that we got everything settled from a misunderstanding and you got my mother to come here. Not only that, I know you didn't plan on having Emily here but I'm glad that you guys are friends." "Yeah, that's what you have to do Ann. Take the good from the bad."
Emily smiles; "Well, yeah! Though I'm still going to be jealous that you have him butttt, I'll just have to accept reality!" Ann smiles at her for accepting it
Orika looks at Reiko in concern; "Do you want to stay with us Reiko? You don't deserve to stay at a hotel, we have a guess room! And, I'm sure Ann will be staying with Akira anyway!"
"Hmm..." Reiko says pretending to think; "Of course! But first, I have to take Emily home and pick up my things at the hotel then."
"Do you want me to go with you, mother?" Akira asks worried about them going back to town.
"I would love that, my son. But you are still under probation, I am sure that I will be fine, I'm not going anywhere near him anyway."
Akira nods; "Alright then. Just let me know when you get to Ann's and make sure you do too, Emily, when you get home."
Emily smiles hearing that; "Awe! You do still worry about me! But, don't worry, Jiro has been avoiding me since what he did. Actually, he's been really weird at school even before that. Avoiding everyone and then sometimes whispering to himself. Oh! And sometimes just goes missing too."
"Akira...This sounds bad..." "N-No...It can't be...!" Akira gulps; "W-Well, he's always has been like that...Well except the w-whispering to himself..." Ann was looking at him in worriment having the same thoughts as he did
"Are you alright, Akira? You look like you've seen a ghost." Emily asks worried
"Y-Yeah, just worried that he might do something stupid or has gone crazy."
She nods; "Yeah...He may have become an asshole, but he is still our friend or mine at least. I just wish he stopped with his obsession of wanting to be with me...and apologize for hitting me..."
He nods; "I understand...He is still my friend as well. I'm just going to have to wait till my probation is up before I can go talk to them."
"Okay...Then I will keep avoiding him till then..." She says worried
Reiko nods; "Well, it's getting late, I should get you home, Emily. I will see you tomorrow Akira and I will be back in about four hours to your house, Orika and Lukas."
Orika smiles; "That's fine, just make sure that you get back safe."
After Ann tells her parents that she was staying with Akira; they say their goodbyes as well as Emily before they all go their separate ways.
Akira sits on his bed waiting for Ann which he was surprised that she was allowed to stay over after how angry her parents were for him putting her into danger after revealing that Ann was a phantom thief as well. But thankfully, her parents accepted it after he said that he didn't want to get her involved but she was pushy and ended up there anyways.
But now he was thinking about what he found out from his mother and it was that his father actually abused her. He never thought he would go that far with hating him to the point where he would lay his hands on his wife for even worrying about him. And what did his mother mean when she said that he acted normal when he was here but started acting different when he went back? Is there a reason why he disowned him? Was it to protect him and his mother? Is that why he was begging Sojiro not to tell him? There were so many questions that kept going through his mind.
"I should have defeated his shadow earlier when I first heard about this from mother...I never thought he would get to this point..."
"I didn't think so either...But you shouldn't be thinking like that. Maybe there's something that he's hiding from us. Something that he regrets? Remember what your mother said, is that he wanted people to respect each other because he hated how most of the population has started to not care for each other and just became so obsessed with themselves and not caring about others..."
"And his desire for that has become distorted..." He sighs; "And not only that...Jiro may have a Persona..."
"I knew you were thinking the same thing I was thinking when Emily said that about Jiro..." He hears Ann say coming back into the room. "But if he does have a persona, why isn't he going after you and did he work with Akechi?"
Akira thinks; "What if he has the same abilities as him but it affects humans instead..." "Wait...Are you talking when your mother said that your father acted like he was fighting himself but also with the town? There can't be anyway he would have that much power to control a whole town."
"Honestly...I think you're right, Akira. We were questioning why you were acting the way you were and Morgana said that maybe someone was watching us. Could it have been him?" "That can't be...Isn't your hometown far away, Akira? That would mean he would somehow have some teleporting abilities..."
"It's about 3.5 hours by train so it's not that far...And Akechi was able to kill Okumura's shadow. So, I wouldn't pass it. Also, Emily did say that Jiro would go missing sometimes." He looks down but then up; "I'm going to Nikko tomorrow to find out everything...To help my Father and see if Jiro really does have a persona..." "What? Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Wait, what!? You're actually going back there!? But your Mother said that you could be violating your patrol! And you know one of them will call the police on you!"
"I know..." He goes to his closet and brings out his gray hoodie; "I got my invisibility hoodie! No one knew who I was with this on!" Arsene sighs; "I'm still trying to figure out how no one notices you..." "Like I said, invisibility hoodie!"
She giggles; "Alright, alright. But, I'm going with you! You're not doing this alone!" "Woohoo! We're going on a trip/date to Akira's hometown!" "Wait...But what about school? It is finals soon."
Akira smiles and brings out his phone; "I still got Kawakami though I feel bad for using her...I'll just have to make it up to her. And no nothing dirty, I promise." "Good thing, you said that."
"I'm glad to hear that...But what are you going to do, if your dad does have a palace?" "I do hope he doesn't...from what you told us about his desires..."
"Oh...Yeah, I was thinking about that..." He starts thinking but then gasps; "I got it! What if I take him to his palace and make him see what he's been thinking..." "That's what we've been thinking..."
She looks at him like he lost his mind; "What!? Isn't that dangerous!? You never know what could happen!" "Wait...He might actually have a point. Didn't Futaba accept her own shadow and Sae was in her own palace as well? So, what makes this so different?"
He nods; "Exactly, Carmen. From what my mother said, is that his desires are wanting the citizens to be more respectful of each other by showing kindness and caring for each other more. Every one of our targets were doing it out of selfish, evil ways except for Futaba. But, my father, is doing out of good intentions and..." He looks down; "What if he's doing it out of what happened to me? Remember what I said when I was talking about my past? That he started changing after the ruling? What if he slowly started changing because he saw what had happened to me in the courthouse and it made him think that the only way to make things better was to force people to respect you..." He looks at Ann; "What if I am his treasure...?"
The Next Day
Nikko
Emily slowly wakes up seeing that she was in front of a rainbow bridge and if she wasn't scared, she would have thought what she was seeing was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, it was like looking at heaven to her. She was standing on a cliff with clear blue skies with grass surrounding the area and overlooking a cliff was a giant white palace with gold highlights on a giant floating rock; "W-Where am I...?" She had remembered walking to school but she got knocked out.
"Glad to see you are waking up, Emily...I'm sorry for knocking you out...But, you've been avoiding me since I...I hit you..." He looks down in sadness
Her eyes go wide knowing that voice; "J-Jiro!?" She looks up and sees him standing there with a small smile looking at her, giving her chills
"Yep! Or you could just call me Ace..." He laughs; "It sounds stupid to call me that but it fits since that long nose, bug eyed, old man called me an 'Ace in the Hole' or some shit like that..."
Where did you take me!? Why is there a palace on a floating rock!"
He laughs; "Because it's Akira's Father's palace!" He starts thinking; "What the fuck did his shadow say, it was...Paradise or some shit like that?"
"What are you talking about!?" She looks at him like he lost his mind; "What do you mean it's Akira's father's palace? And what's Paradise?"
"Forget all that..." He holds out his hand and his eyes glow red; "Join me...and we'll stop that sexual assaulter, piece of shit, Akira! Isn't that right, Pierre...?" "You don't need to tell me twice...I will get my revenge on you Arsene!"
[Hey, everyone! I finally got this done after so long! Now then, there you have it, Takahiro was slowly losing himself when Akira was given his false charge. So, I'm sure you guys can guess, but it's not going to be a huge palace and no, Takahiro isn't going to have a persona. So, about Jiro having powers and yes, a persona. I made hints about him having power which is like Joker having third eye but it warps people's minds instead. You'll find out more in the next chapter what his role is, I kind of gave a hint of it with him wanting Emily to call him Ace. Also, doesn't it sound like what's going on with Akira, Emily and Jiro sound like the two people and Arsene in Arsene's past? The past does come back to haunt us at some point in our lives.]
[One more thing; I still don't know about Emily or Makoto and I read your guys' idea but I'm still deciding it.]