I hope you enjoy this chapter!
—
"but your hands never waver, staying true to their target"
Akira stares at the ceiling, watching the shadow's dart across it. They haven't gotten any closer to figuring out what Jose's keywords were. Each day the ringing in his head was growing stronger, the pounding starting to return. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to hold onto this world for much longer. A few more weeks at most.
It frustrated him to no end to have this restraint, to be unable to press forward. This is the closest he's gotten to finding some way to end the cycles and he can't let it slip through his fingers. He's afraid that one day he'll wake up on that never ending train with everything he's worked to gone. He'll be forced to recreate everything that he's done, most likely alone this time.
He doesn't know if he'd be able to survive that.
He's finally found someone that he can rely on, someone that understands what it's like to go through the suffocating control of the cycles. Their relationship might be reduced to deals and agreements but it's better than being alone. The emptiness inside of his burns far more than the threads of the bonds that he tried to hold. It's an icy chill that he doesn't realize is there until it's consumed. He just barely crawled himself out last time. He's not sure if he'll be able to do it a second time.
He's not sure if he'd want to.
Anxiety bubbles within him, constantly reminding him that he's not the only that's at risk. That he's not the only one that'll drown if their ship goes down. Jose and, however reluctantly, Akechi has put their trust in him. To figure out a way to end this without allowing Jose to disappear. He knows that Akechi has thought the same thing: if they steal the star from Jose, he'd be unable to wish himself free. Even if Jose is a Shadow, Akira couldn't do that to him. He understands how it feels to be trapped. To feel that you're so far lost that you can't be found.
Akira rolls over to his side, pulling the blanket farther over his shoulders. The cushions of the couch pressed against his back, having grown softer with weeks of use. He closed his eyes, resolving to get some form of sleep.
—
Akira sat up hours later, only succeeding in drifting off for a few minutes. The lack of sleep settled deep in his limbs as he stood from the couch and walked over to the kitchenette. He turned on Akechi's coffee maker, pulling out some beans from the cabinet. At the start of this excursion with Akechi, Akira insisted that Akechi get some decent coffee. Since Akira couldn't visit LeBlanc, he called Sojiro the first day and told him his parents called off the trip last minute without telling anyone, he needed something to replace it. This was their compromise.
He made a pot of coffee, pouring out two cups and placing them on the counter. He grabbed one and started sipping it. He made sure to get the right beans so the taste was mild with the faint hints of bitterness. It was good, close enough to LeBlanc's that it was acceptable.
Akechi strode into the kitchen, already dressed for the day. He sits at his place on the island and sips his coffee. Akira pulls out his phone and opens the MetaNav.
"Eager to start?" Akechi asks, placing the cup down on the table.
"I've been thinking about the conversation that I had with him. I think the Palace is a place he feels safe." Akira holds his own cup tight, letting the warmth from the cup bay the chill settling in his fingers. "Like a park or carnival."
The app beeps unhappily at both. Akechi frowns. "You could be thinking too specifically. If the original Jose is anywhere near his age, he wouldn't have a developed sense of the world."
"He mentions this person; he has to report his findings about humanity too. I wonder if they play a role in it." No matter how much Akira prompts Jose on this person, he's never said anything more about them.
"They could be a protector or caretaker of some form." Akechi says. "Possible a parent, sibling, or teacher."
"A school?" Akira tries. "Or a play group?" Neither worked.
"Safety?" Akechi mutters, narrowing his eyes. He pauses a moment before an expression of triumph crosses his face. "Sanctuary."
The app chirps and the word appears next to Jose's name. Now all they needed was the location. "What could he think of as a sanctuary?"
"It's not anything we've listed before, which would be what someone would assume was a sanctuary for someone his age." Akechi stops, hesitation coloring his words. He swallows. "It wasn't his home, maybe he had a foster home?"
It didn't work. Akira shook his head and placed his phone on the table. "We've never seen Jose outside of the Mementos. It could be anywhere."
Akechi glances up at the clock and stands. "We can continue this when I return. I'll see if I can get another day off from the station." He grabs his briefcase, slips on his shoes and steps out the door. He shuts it behind him, leaving the apartment in silence.
Akira finishes drinking his coffee, placing his and Akechi's cup in the sink and turning off the coffee maker. His phone still sat on the counter, the red background of the MetaNav still visible. He shouldn't go without Akechi, but he needed to get answers.
He pulls up the navigation for Mementos and starts it up. The world around him flickers and warps. As soon as the world settles, he walks out of the apartment and down to the subway system.
The Velvet Room door still sits unmanned in the corner of the station. Akira ignores it and the dull pull he feels calling him. At this point, with the ringing pounding in his head, he'll reset before it becomes a problem that he doesn't have his Persona. He wasn't going to trust this to be his last run anyways. He's messed everything up too much to let it continue.
He steps out into the starting layer of Mementos. It was quiet except for the faint moans from passing Shadows. Akira sticks to the shadows along the wall, darting out of the way of anything that could harm him. He didn't even have his gun on him as a means of protection.
It took him longer than he would've liked to reach the stairway down to the next level. But down there he finds who he's looking for.
Jose waves at him from his car, which is sporting a long silver gash on the front end. He hops out of it and runs up to Akira, his arms spread wide. Akira crouches down and returns Jose's embrace. "You're back!" Jose's voice is muffled by Akira's shirt but the joy in it is unmistakable.
"I couldn't stay away long." Fondness works its way into Akira's voice, softening his expression.
Jose pulls away from Akira and grabs onto his wrist. "C'mon! You tell me what you've found!" He dragged Akira over to the edge of the platform, by his car.
Akira sits down next to Jose, a small smile resting on his lips. "We're getting closer." Akira pauses a moment before continuing, his voice quieter than before. "But we may need to reset another time. I've already changed so much in this run and I don't think it should be the last one."
"It'll be before I have to disappear, right?" Fear crept into Jose's voice, his expression strained.
"Of course. I promised, didn't I?" Akira reminds him. A small part of him leers, not letting him forget that he shouldn't continue making promises like that. Promises that were bound to get him hurt.
"You did." The smile on Jose's face returns. He idly kicks his feet, his heels thumping against the platform rhymically. "If you're going to reset, why did you come down here?"
"There was something I wanted to ask you." Akira keeps his voice neutral and calm, letting it venture to being a little light. "Do you remember being anywhere other than Mementos?"
Jose stops swinging his feet, his expression tightening and his shoulders curving. "No, I don't really." His voice wavers and he struggles to steady it. "Why do you ask?"
"I was curious, I guess." Akira plays it off with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's just that Akechi said you've been here awhile."
"Akechi?" Jose's voice lowers, confusion layered in it. "Was he the man that was with you last time?"
"Yeah, that was him. You might've seen him before in the previous runs."
"That's it?" Jose's hands start trembling, his voice shaking. "I—I feel like I've seen him before."
Akira places a hand on Jose's shoulder. He flinches and shies away. "You might've met him before the cycles."
Jose wraps his arms around himself. "No that's not right." He mutters almost too quietly for Akira to hear. "I've only been alone here. I've never met anyone else."
Akira tries to reach out. "It's okay if you did. Nothing's wrong."
"Don't touch me!" Jose slaps Akira's hand away, scooting away from him. He brings a hand to his head, his voice pained. "No no no I shouldn't have done that. I really shouldn't have done that."
"I'm not mad at you." Akira moves closer slowly, only when Jose appears comfortable. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Tears spill over Jose's cheeks, his eyes wide. "I'm sorry. I won't do that again, I promise."
"It's okay. I startled you and pushed you when you were uncomfortable." Akira sits nearby Jose and takes it as a good sign when he doesn't move away. "Do you want me to come closer?"
Jose nods and Akira slides up next to him. He leans into Akira's side and Akira throws an arm around his shoulders. "I'm sorry." Jose whispers, reedy with unshed tears.
"You don't have to apologize." Akira rubs Jose's shoulder, keeping his voice low and comforting. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I yelled at you." Jose wouldn't look up to meet Akira's gaze. "I shouldn't have done that."
"Yelling isn't wrong. People are allowed to get angry."
"The doctors don't yell." Something resembling a smile tugged at Jose's lips. "No matter how mad I get they always smile at me."
"You really like them, don't you?"
"Yes!" Jose's voice rises, his normal bubbly happiness returning. "They're really cool. They always make me feel better."
"They're really good at that." Akira couldn't help but mirror Jose's smile. "I'm friends with one in my neighborhood. She works well with all her patients even if she won't admit it."
"I want to meet her someday." Jose's smile turned wistful but he shook his head and stood. "I should get going. We've been on this floor for a while."
"You don't have to leave yet." Akira grabs onto Jose's wrist before he can dart off. "I don't mind if we sit here longer."
"I'm fine!" Jose frees his wrist and turns back to Akira. "I'll even be careful around the corners."
"That's not what I mean."
"Don't worry." Jose jumps into his car and presses on the horn. "See you later Akira!"
Akira watched Jose speed off with a slightly bemused expression on his face. He shoved his hands into pockets, trying to figure out the odd conversation that they had. Jose was hiding something, that much was obvious, and Akira had a feeling the answers would be found inside his Palace.
Akira strides out of Mementos, opening his phone to the MetaNav. He stops in a secluded corner of the station, leaning against the wall. He queued up Jose's Palace and spoke the final word. "Hospital."
"Candidate found." The app says.
Akira stops it before he can be pulled in. He flips through his contacts and dials Akechi. He picks up after the third ring. "Akira, I'm in the middle of school, what is it?"
"The final keyword is hospital."
"Wait Akira don't—"
Akira ended the call and opened the MetaNav. Akechi's call flashed over the top of the phone but Akira pressed navigate before he could even hang up the call.
The world ripples and distorts as Akira strides out of the station, stepping into the street above. He scanned the cityline, looking for a building out of place. In the distance, he could see the wavered pattern of a Palace, the almost pristine building rising over the surrounding buildings. Vines and other plants grew overgrown around the building, tranishing the otherwise white brick.
Akira approaches the building with caution. The closer that he got to it, the more evident of its distortion. Plants spilled out from it, wrapping around nearby buildings and destroying them with the weight. The only building that appeared to stand the weight was the Palace.
There were no Shadows or cognitions on the outskirts of the building and he couldn't see anything through the obscured windows. But as he grew closer, he could make out a single person standing before the front door. She was dressed in a set of silver, form-fitting armor. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a knot on the top of her head. Her expression was welcoming but her eyes were narrowed. "A visitor. We haven't had one of those since—" She frowned, clenching her hands into fists at her sides. "—our resident had fallen ill."
"I'm here to visit him." Akira glances to the sides, trying to see if there was an alternative route for infiltration. He couldn't fight her in the state he was in now.
"If you're willing to cooperate we can get something—Wait, what is that in your pocket?" She swallows, her hands twitching at her sides. The vines on the building seem to shift.
"This?" Akira reaches into his pocket and pulls out the star. It pulses in his hand, burning.
Her eyes widen, searing anger filling her expression. "You're one of those."
She moves one of her hands slightly, not even moving it from her side.
Fractured pain bursts from his chest and white dots fill his vision. Blood dribbles down his chin, the star falling out of his limp hand. It clattering against the ground is the last thing he hears.
—
Hopefully next week I'll be back to updated on Thrusdays but we'll have to see how busy I am. I had so much going on last week lol