Chapter 3
After resting up, Hide and Aiko began exploring the theater once more. Continuing to follow the screams, Hide noticed the hall slowly began to get darker and darker until they could barely see.
"Mmm..." Aiko let out a nervous, and shaky groan as she wrapped herself around Hide's left arm. Glancing at her for a brief moment, Hide didn't say anything as he just kept walking. With visibility near impossible, Hide placed his right hand on the wall, using it to lead them further down.
Feeling his hand brush a doorknob, Hide slowly opened it just as a scream came from inside.
Taking a step inside, the room suddenly filled with a blinding light, forcing Hide and Aiko to shield their eyes for a few moments. Once adjusted, what the two saw horrified them both.
Countless girls, each barely out of their teens, were either tied down, sitting in front of a mirror, or rocking back in forth in the fetal position. Each girl had makeup smeared across their faces.
"What... the... fuck..?"
Aiko suddenly gasped, placing her hands over her mouth.
"This is awful."
"What does this mean?" Hide asked, looking to Aiko. "Are these all the women Kazuto has under his thumb?"
Aiko slowly nodded her head.
"That's Rem. And Kami." She began naming out the girls. "I didn't know they were involved with Kazuto."
She knelt down to help one of them up.
"Aiko." Hide called her name softly while staring at a girl in the corner. "I don't think they're real."
"What?" Aiko looked back at Hide. Following his gaze, she saw a girl in the darkest corner of the room. Her head was quickly shaking back and forth as if she were possessed. Her body would change, for a brief moment, into a dark, blood soaked creature.
"Something tells me we aren't just inside the warehouse." Hide began slowly. "I think we're inside Kazuto's head."
"What?" Aiko looked at Hide. "That's absurd."
"He's not wrong." A new voice joined in.
Looking to the source, a man, dressed in all black with red gloves, dropped down from the ceiling.
"Well, he's not entirely wrong." The man clarified as he rose to his feet, pushing his jet black hair out of his face. Like Hide, this man also had a mask over his eyes.
Hide immediately pulled Aiko behind him as he grabbed his sword's hilt.
"Who are you?" Hide growled.
The man smirked as he let out a single chuckle.
"I should be the one asking you that." The man walked over to one of the girls. "These girls aren't real. Helping them is just a waste of time."
Aiko grit her teeth. "Then what are they?"
"They're how the ruler of this Palace views them." The man spoke. "In the real world."
"'Palace'?" Hide repeated.
The man nodded.
"It's been eighteen years since I last stepped foot inside one." The man continued. "You two are after the Palace Ruler, correct?"
Hide and Aiko glanced at one another.
Getting a closer look at the duo, the man noticed Aiko didn't have a mask.
"You're not a persona user." He stated, staring right at Aiko.
"Persona?"
Hide growled as he stepped up to the man.
"Cut the bullshit! What's going on here?" Hide demanded.
The man simply chuckled.
"You remind me of a friend of mine. He also had a short fuse." He then glanced upwards. "I wonder what he's up to."
Hide clenched his fists.
"Anyway. To answer your question; you can call me Joker." The man told Hide and Aiko. "The first Phantom Thief."
End of chapter 3