Author's Note: Welcome back to chapter three, where we learn that this is not going to be as straight forward as we hoped. More at the end, just read this chapters and that note.
Ren sighed as he stepped out of the Velvet Room. Minato had been quiet the whole ride to this destination and it meant they spent a solid couple of minutes in silence. What was with that guy? It was clear that the denizens of the Velvet Room had the utmost respect for him. Yet he did not seem to be much of a leader or even one for making bonds. That was not to say that he did not seem smart, but if Narukami was the intelligent investigator, Minako was the cheerful optimist, and Ren was the daring rogue, then what was Minato's role?
Ren found himself back inside the Leblanc Cafe and as soon as he settled himself back into his seat, he heard thumping upstairs in the room he was staying in during his visit. He stood up and carefully made his way over to the stairs. He stepped carefully, avoiding the loose stairs and noisy steps. He peaked over the threshold of the floor to see a familiar green jacket and long orange hair rummaging through his things. He finished his stealthy approach, took a deep silent deep breath, and…
"If you do that, I'm going to slander you online, Ren," the girl said as set the item she was holding down. Turning around, the two bespectacled teens came face to face for the first time since his trip started.
"Nowhere in the list was 'rummage through other people's things', you know," Ren said flatly. This got a small smile from the girl before she immediately turned it back to a business oriented frown.
"Well if you didn't just disappear out of the cafe with some mysterious stranger, I wouldn't have to start my Rescue Quest for you," she replied defiantly.
"So you heard that? Wait? You still have the microphones in the cafe, Futaba?" Ren asked.
"I'm always listening," Futaba said mysteriously. Ren suddenly realized that there are things he really hoped that she had not heard particularly when it came to his relationship with Ann. "But more importantly, where is that guest of yours? The one saying we're all still in an illusion. Is it true?"
"It's true, and it is infinitely more complicated than just that," Ren replied as he deflated a bit. It really was just not in the cards for him to have a simple life here in Tokyo.
"I thought things have been weird," Futaba commented irritably. When Ren raised his brow in question she continued. "How do you think I knew you were behind me? My Persona has been giving me sensory data even though we solved the problem. Meaning that the Metaverse is still affecting reality. It's like a bad Multiverse story."
Ren nodded. He observed Futaba as she took a place on the small couch. She sat on her heels as she planted her feet on the cushions beneath her. While there was a certain amount of her antisocial and awkward tendencies that would never really go away, Ren could not help but be proud that she had improved so much to the point of invading his personal space had worked a long time on that.
"So, you tell the others yet?" Futaba asked.
"Not yet, though that is only partially because I just got back," Ren admitted sheepishly.
Futaba looked at him and said, "Why are you so nervous about telling the others? I almost never see you like this, and I've watched you be interrogated by the government."
"I mean, I have to tell them that all of their sacrifices have been for nothing. We accomplished nothing and gave up everything. I mean it isn't easy telling people they have failed to live up to their sacrifices," Ren lamented. This got him an interesting look from the analyst.
"You have a lot more stressful of a job than I do," Futaba admitted.
"True, but I do have a job for you," Ren said. "You need to go into the Metaverse. The application has been upgraded. I need you to do some research on the original timeline. 2011, Inaba Murders. Learn as much as you can for me, then research one Minato Arisato. Anyone who could be mildly related to that name. I need information on who we are about to work with."
"I do want to learn more about this Yu Narukami, this guy definitely sounds like he put all his points in Charisma," Futaba commented idly as she took out her phone. "Alrighty, where are we gonna meet when we're done?"
Ren thought for a moment and said, "We'll come to you. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"You'd better," Futaba said before she tapped the app and disappeared.
Ren sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked downstairs, leaving the cafe. Tokyo was a big place, but the last thing he needed was to try and explain this to all of them at once. People were not going to be happy about it in the first place. Who did he start with? There was Ryuji, he always seemed to be on board with the Phantom Thief business. But he was also super ready for it to be over by the end. It had turned into a dangerous game by the end, they had all been ready to let it be over. Yusuke came to mind. He had taken the news about falling for the illusion particularly hard, but it also hardened his resolve for turning back illusion and winning reality back. Yusuke would be the best one to start with. Ren took out his phone and sent the text.
'On my way.'
Of course, the one thing Ren had forgotten was the wait that would be entailed in that decision. Yusuke was still just as poor as he always was and that meant getting off the train early to save his money. He should be treated to some food, maybe that would be where they could discuss this. The Big Bang Burger would be a nice middle ground for them to meet. But Ren found himself in the booth for nearly thirty minutes before Yusuke showed up. The tall lanky young man entered the burger joint dressed in a tan dress jacket with vertical stripes and black jeans. His wardrobe screamed thrift which was entirely too appropriate for the young man.
"Hello, Ren," Yusuke Kitagawa said gracefully as he sat down in the booth. "I am certain that I need not remind you, but…"
"Yusuke, for as long as I have known you, you have not had money. This meal is on me. I invited you, I pay."
"I thank you for your kindness," Yusuke said with a happy smile. "So you said you needed to talk about something. I figured this would be something you would want to discuss with Ann considering your partnered status."
Ren turned a light pink tinge before he readjusted and said, "This is not a personal thing. This is a… "Phantom Thief" thing. About Maruki."
Yusuke's hand clenched and Ren saw the faint bit of white form at his knuckles. Ren's eyes trailed up to his companion's face to see a frustrated and a pained look. Ren remembered how frustrated the young man had been when he first learned of Maruki's illusion. The next thing he said however surprised him.
"So we are still trapped then," Yusuke said regrettably.
"You knew?"
"I suspected," Yusuke explained. "Maruki does not see the world the way that we all do and his illusion illustrates this perfectly. The world does not shine like it used to and feels like a rough approximation of what someone expects the beauty of the world to be. Or rather, what someone who does not seek it thinks is beautiful." He paused and looked Ren directly in the eyes as he continued. "The world is beautiful because it was created the way that it was, by an impartial observer. One who let the world be what it would be with no expectation. That is true beauty. And the world currently has a lack of it."
Ren had always known that Yusuke was passionate about art and the process of capturing the world. Maybe Yusuke was suffering more than he let on, living in someone else's interpretation of the world. Ren and Yusuke took some time to eat while Ren explained what he had learned.
"Wait, you're telling me that there have been other groups of teenagers who have done what we have done? Summoned spirits and battled monsters?" Yusuke asked with wide eyes.
Ren nodded. After finishing a bite he said, "I had figured it to be the case, but I could never prove it, nor was it ever relevant to our situation, y'know? But in the meantime, I have Futaba doing some research to figure some more stuff on these other incidents."
"Are we using Cafe LeBlanc as the meeting point for this case?" Yusuke asked. Ren nodded. "Then I shall be on standby at HQ. Let me know if you need me."
"Thanks, Yusuke. I'll catch up with you as soon as I can talk to the others," Ren said gratefully.
Yusuke stood up and replied, "I shall be on standby at HQ. Let me know if you need me."
Ren could not help but smirk at Yusuke's interesting personality and quirks. Yusuke excused himself and left the restaurant. The suggestion of bringing Ann on board was a tempting one, but it did mean having to tell her that she made Shiho relive her worse traumas for nothing. That was a conversation he just was not ready to have at this point. Where else could he turn?
A familiar tan peacoat entered the restaurant tearing Ren's attention from his thoughts. His eyes became glued to the approaching shaggy brown hair and red eyes that recognized him immediately. Taking the seat that Yusuke had left not a few minutes prior was none other than Goro Akechi, Of course, this was not the first time that Ren had seen him, this side of his last clash with Maruki.
"Y'know, I was hoping for just a little jaw dropping," Akechi said with his charming personality. Ren knew this was just how he presented himself in public. The real Akechi was a much more aggressive and blunt person behind his public mask. "Then again, you must have seen this coming."
"Once I was made aware of the situation, the thought did dance across my mind," Ren replied. "Though I figured I would run across you, rather than you approaching me."
"What can I say, you are one of the few people I like in this world, real or fake," Akechi said cheekily.
Ren raised his eyebrow and asked, "Does not being allowed to kill bother you that much?"
"I had no palace and I had a Persona, Ren. There is no distortion in my perception. I kill people, get over it," Akechi said bluntly as the facade broke down for a moment.
Ren knew that Akechi meant it when he said that he was one of the few people Akechi actually liked. Though it was no real surprise that Akechi considered their friendship a rivalry. However, the detestment that Akechi felt for the false reality that had brought him back from the dead was clearly painted by his actions.
"To tell the truth, this isn't the first time I've tried to get your attention," Akechi mused out loud. "What changed?"
"The illusion was broken for me again, this time by a concerned third party," Ren explained. "A member of a previous team of Persona Users, by the name of Yu Narukami. He realized that the illusion was cast immediately. He was then brought to help finish breaking me out of its renewed grasp on me."
"Another group of Persona Users?" Akechi asked, taken aback. "I feel like we would have heard of a different group of Phantom Thieves. Granted you and your friends seemed obsessed with becoming famous."
"Forward facing power," Ren replied nonchalantly. "Public opinion is a powerful weapon when dealing with the corrupt and unjust."
"Forward facing power? Then what is rear-facing power?" Akechi asked.
A new voice suddenly joined their conversation, "That would be the power of Persona itself." Both the young men turned to the gruff voice to see a young man about their age wearing a maroon peacoat and while covering his shaggy dark hair with a beanie. In his hand was a red cloth that seemed to have something embroidered into it. He heaved a sigh before he pocketed the cloth and turned to them. "You are Ren Amamiya, right?"
"That depends on who's asking and from where I am sitting, a delinquent student is hardly someone I'd want to freely offer up information to," Akechi answered.
The beanies clad teenager simply scoffed and replied, "Typical snobbery from stuffed shirts like yourself. Listen dumbass, if you were as smart as you pretend to be then you'd know I've been listening since your conversation started."
"Then why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Ren asked.
"To make sure I get the answer I'm expecting," he replied. "I came here to give you a warning. I don't think you are going to want to depend on Minato for help. It seems he's not really interested in dying again."
"What?" Ren asked. "Who are you? How do you know Minato? How do you know about the power of Persona?"
"Name's Shinjiro," Shinjiro replied. "I was a member of SEES back in 2009, when we first had to deal with what eventually became Nyx and Erebus."
"How do you know about the fake reality?" Akechi asked.
Shinjiro replied, "Like I've gathered from your conversation, I'm supposed to be dead too. I was shot by a group that is about to get a second chance at their ideal reality early on in our mission."
"Then why won't Minato help?" Ren asked.
"Because being locked up for eight years in isolation fucks you up inside," Shinjiro replied. "And he's willing to gamble on whether or not our world is actually going to end in exchange for a couple of months of ideal life."
"So how would you know to come find us?" Ren asked. Though his thoughts drifted to the other Arisato. What was going through Minako's mind?
"Because Minato is too forthcoming with information," Shinjiro replied. "But despite that, there is more to my warning. If he thinks you're a threat to his ideal world, he'll probably try to stop you."
"Wait, if Nyx and Erebus were your big battles, and you died early on, how do you know?" Akechi asked, deadpanned.
"Because my being here was caused by two people, to make it as if I hadn't died and cost them their ideal lives," Shinjiro replied bitterly.
"Do they know you came to us?" Ren asked.
"Not yet," Shinjiro replied honestly. "But that will be a matter of time. Until then, I will be making my way to Inaba to warn the other group about my leader."
Ren nodded and said, "Makes sense. Was there anyone else from your group who didn't stay with him?"
"Two, but one is a non-combatant and I've told her to lay low for now. The other is trying to subtly change Minato's mind. I don't have much faith in that plan. I think she would need to confront him head on about the issue, but that could result in a falling out," Shinjiro said as he recounted the situation. "You guys get back to what you were doing. I have a train to catch."
"Thanks for the warning," Ren called after him as Shinjiro began heading for the exit. This earned a brief pause before he left the establishment.
Akechi scoffed before he said, "Antisocial, that one."
Ren stood up and thought for a moment before he finally said, "I'm gonna go meet with Ryuji. He might be able to help me break the news to the others."
"Really? The most aggressive and shortest fuse on the team is the one you want to ask to be tactful?" Akechi asked with a mocking smirk.
Ren shook his head and said, "I am not looking for tact with the others. I am looking for direct and blunt. I'd ask you but you don't exactly have the best relationship with the others. Explaining you to them, again, is gonna be enough work."
"That's fair," Akechi replied with a halfhearted shrug. "I'll wait near Leblanc. When the rest of your team shows up, I'll make my approach then."
Ren nodded and vacated the restaurant. He pulled out his phone to text Ryuji, before he paused and made his way to the school. The track should still be open, which means that Ryuji would likely be running today. As Ren made his way to the school that had been the setting of the lowest point of his life, his thoughts remained back at the burger joint. Two dead people had been sitting in there. People who had died but had been brought back by the powers held by Maruki. A fake reality was not worth living in… Right?
Ren shook his head. He needed to stop. Letting his mind wander down that particular line of thought was exactly what Maruki wanted. It seemed that it already worked on Minato. Though Shinjiro did have a point. Minato desired anything but going back to the great loneliness that was being in the seal. How aware of the passage of time had he and Minako been? How was Minako changed?
All these thoughts only served to frustrate him as he finally arrived at the school. As he suspected, he found Ryuji making his way around the track. As Ryuji rounded the far curve, he saw Ren and began sprinting towards him.
"Dude, you're back!" Ryuji called out as he approached.
Ren smiled and said, "Lookin solid Ryuji."
"Did we know you were coming for a visit?" Ryuji asked suddenly.
Ren shook his head and said, "The more people who know I'm coming here, the more press I am bound to get. Besides, if I told you beforehand, the whole world would know before an hour passed."
Ryuji got steamed about Ren's jokes at his expense but he regained his composure soon after. "So what brought you back, man?"
"Originally it was just supposed to be a normal visit. But, well just say, I've become aware of something that may require some special attention," Ren replied. Trying to see if he could bait a reaction out of Ryuji.
"What do you mean?" Ryuji asked.
"I'm talking about Phantom Thief attention," Ren replied evenly.
"For real?" Ryuji asked. "What kind of job you thinking of pulling, after everything we went through?"
Ren braced himself for a moment before he finally said, "I want us to stop Maruki for real this time, before he causes the end of the world."
"But we already dealt with him," Ryuji said as he deflated.
Ren shook his head and said, "The guy had the ability to create an entire fake reality. You think he was just going to roll over and take it? Especially if he had the option to not to?" This seemed to get a reaction out of Ryuji who began to grow a bit red with anger.
"So you are saying that we failed? That we didn't change anything? You really telling me that?" Ryuji asked. He pulled a phone from his pocket and after a brief moment, Ren felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. But they were standing right next to each other. The sudden realization turned his blood to ice as he realized what Ryuji had just done. He pulled out his phone and looked down at the group chat.
'Ren says we didn't fix anything,' Ryuji texted.
'What?!' Ann replied.
'How is that possible?' Makoto asked.
"Wait now let's not freak out over anything,' Haru said, attempting to control the conversation somewhat.
'How can you be calm about this?' Ryuji asked. 'All the things that changed for us were for nothing. Like Shiho, Ann.'
'You mean we made her suffer her ordeals for nothing?' Ann texted outraged.
'Maybe now isn't the best time to reveal that I am still around. Way to go, Ren BTW," Akechi texted the group.
'Akechi?'
'AKECHI?'
'Akechi?'
'Why are you all vibrating my phone so much?' Yusuke asked in the chat.
'Read the whole convo, Yusuke.' Makoto wrote.
'I was already aware of this information,' Yusuke replied.
'How are you ok with this?' Ryuji demanded.
'Wait, Akechi?' Yusuke replied.
'Ren, why aren't you writing?' Ann asked.
Ren looked up from his phone and at Ryuji who seemed to be even more steamed than he had been just moments before. Ryuji looked back at him and said, "So, I'm not even the first person you talked to about this. What the hell is goin' on here, Ren?"
"Ryuji, I wanted to go over this with people one on one," Ren replied through gritted teeth as his phone continued to vibrate like crazy.
'Everyone please calm down,' Haru pleaded, desperately.
'This is not something that can be calmed, Haru,' Ryuji replied, stoking the fires.
'Ren is this true?' Ann demanded again.
'I think we can take his silence as a yes, Ann,' Makoto replied.
'Because Yusuke's confirmation and my being alive were not evidence enough,' Akechi replied sarcastically.
'Can it, Akechi,' Ryuji replied.
'I think you are all taking this too personally,' Yusuke replied.
'Not you Haru' Yusuke added.
'Thank you, Yusuke. I agree,' Haru replied.
'What does this all mean?' Makoto demanded.
Ren watched the chaos unfold in his inbox. That was not supposed to happen this way. This revelation was very quickly causing a schism in his group and he had no idea how to put this fire out. A lit fuse and it was burning before he could even attempt to do damage control. So he decided to throw the biggest desperate play of his time as leader.
'We have to save the world. I know you are upset. Nobody likes being tricked. I'm upset too. But all this infighting isn't going to fix anything. So everyone please calm down, and help me save humanity before it is erased from our world.' Ren messaged desperately.
The text chat came to a halt for a brief moment. Everyone, it seemed, was lost in thought at this message. Ren felt a lump grow in his throat as he was forced to wait in a deafening silence.
'What can we possibly do differently?' Anne texted finally.
'We threw everything we had at Maruki last time. Why would this time be any more successful?' Makoto asked.
'Yeah, really not seeing what we can do if last time wasn't successful,' Ryuji added.
'Well guess now is as good of a time to tell them,' Akechi added simply.
'There are others out there. Others with the power of Persona. Their power can help us tip the scale back in our favor,' Ren informed the group.
'What?' Makoto asked.
'There are others?' Haru asked hopefully.
'Yes, there have been at least two other groups like us. One out in Inaba for example,' Ren replied.
Ren looked at Ryuji and saw him busy at work on another text. The expression on his face made Ren realize that this was not what he wanted to hear. Ren waited with bated breath.
'So what? You're saying that we are going to bring others in and just make them Phantom Thieves? Do we even have a reason to believe that things will be different with their help? We're some of the coolest and powerful people we know and we apparently did jack shit. What are a bunch of nobodies gonna do to change that?' Ryuji wrote.
Ren set his phone to silent as the group chat erupted into fire again. He could completely understand where they were coming from. Afterall he had felt similarly not just an hour ago when he first encountered Yu Narukami. If Maruki could just change reality to make it so he did not lose, then there really was no getting to him. Did throwing more things at him stand much of a chance of changing things? The fist fight, the bullet into Adam Kadmon's body, and the illusions of the world returning to normal all haunted his mind as doubt began to creep in and drown his confidence. Ren gripped the sides of his head and knelt down as he tried to find the answer, something that could fix this and reunite his friends. But only four words repeated in his mind.
I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this!
Author's Note Too: Please understand that the characterization that I am going for here is intentional and being done for the purposes of telling a compelling and 'plausible to canon' story. So before anyone accuses me of some kind of fictional character assassination, just remember that this a story, being written to be dramatic and ridden with hardships. There is no value in a story that goes perfectly, or does not exploit flaws in characters to tell them. Just wait till you see what I mean, because as I was hinting last chapter contextually, this not unique to the P5 Cast. ~Nox