"Sorry again for the short notice guys." A voice apologized over the phone. "It's just that with the threat over on the east coast, we're a little short-staffed at the moment. But with a threat of this magnitude, we can't afford to wait for it to strike first."
"We understand Fuuka." Minako assured her friend, her usual smile on her face. "We'll check out what's going on over there and if it seems like we're in over our heads, we'll call for backup."
"Okay…" Fuuka still sounded unsure, but decided to trust in her friend. "Good luck out there."
"Thanks." Minako responded before ending the call and turning her attention toward the other person in the car. "You sure you don't want me to take over? You've been behind the wheel for a while, I imagine you're pretty tired by now."
"Nah, it's fine." Ren reassured her. "Besides we're coming up on Kyoto soon, then we can finally stretch our legs a bit."
"Not sure how much time we'll actually have to rest when we get there. If Fuuka's right about this, and she probably is, this thing could have control of the whole city. Cognitive Deity's are no joke Ren, I know you've dealt with one before-"
"Two actually." Ren pointed out. "Maaaybe three? I'm not sure whether or not to count Maruki."
"Either way," Minako took back the reins of the conversation. "I don't need to tell you that they're dangerous, potentially world ending threats. My brother…" She trailed off, a grimace appearing on her face.
"I know." Ren nodded, more serious now. "I'll be careful. Even with two Wildcards, we may still be outmatched. If that happens, we'll definitely wait for the others."
"..." Minako continued to stare out the window.
"Everything will be fine. Nobody's going to get hurt this time. Besides, Fuuka said that this thing wasn't anywhere near Nyx's level. If it's still amassing power, that means it's vulnerable. We're going to be just fine."
Cognitive Deities were the most powerful beings on Earth. Essentially gods, these beings were created by humanity's Desires and more often than not had some grand plan for the human race that usually involved killing or enslaving them all. While they did normally possess insane levels of power, their power was directly connected to the amount of Desires they possessed.
"Pull over here." Minako ordered.
"What?" Ren turned to her, surprised.
"Pull over. I'm taking the wheel. You're going into the back and getting some rest before we get there." She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. "That's an order from your superior officer."
"We don't have ranks." Ren argued, but after seeing her expression, he knew he'd already lost. "...Alright! Fine, I'll pull over." He relented, turning into the nearest street before stepping out of the Phantom Mobile.
The Phantom Mobile, as it had come to be called, was a camper that first came into Ren's possession 3 years ago on a road trip across the country with the other Phantom Thieves. He and the others had grown to like the camper so much that once the summer was over, they scraped together enough cash to buy it off of the owner. Now it sat in the compound garage and served as a spare transport for the Shadow Ops.
"Guess I'll take a nap in the back then." Ren yawned, tossing the keys to Minako.
"Good." Minako nodded, her grin returning. "I'll wake you when we get there."
Despite being 7 years his senior, Minako had a habit of acting much younger than she was. Her sarcastic nature and lack of maturity usually served to lighten the mood in tense situations, but when things got really serious, she became scarily controlling.
As Ren climbed into the bed in the back, Minako adjusted the mirrors to see behind her, catching a glimpse of herself as she did so. Appearance wise, she hadn't changed much since high school. Sure she'd grown taller and well...bustier, but her style had remained more or less the same. She still even had the same hair clips that formed the 'XXII' in her hair. A loose red long sleeve shirt along with a simple pair of jeans and brown boots, her outfit would've been just at home a decade ago as today.
She wasn't a big fan of change, maybe that was why she still found herself playing the role of the fun, dumb twin. She had bad memories of change from early on in life, losing her parents 20 years ago, losing her brother 10 years ago...Minako was beginning to see a pattern and she didn't like it. It made her worried about this mission and even more worried about Ren.
The rest of the car ride to Kyoto was peaceful, listening to her favorite oldies on the radio and humming along to them, Minako pushed her worries to the back of her mind. When she finally reached the city, she couldn't help but admire the scenery around her. This place didn't look like it was under the control of a malevolent god, but that somehow only added to her unease.
"We can park right over there."
"GAH!" Minako nearly swerved off the road, grasping the wheel tightly and regaining control. Slowing down, she turned around to see Ren poking his head in from the cabin. "What the hell!? Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry, I thought you knew I was here. I tried saying something earlier, but you were singing and I didn't want to interrupt."
"Y-You heard that?" Sometimes, Minako had a bad habit of singing along to music without realizing it.
"I did." Ren nodded, smiling. "You have a really nice voice."
"Um, thanks." If she hadn't already been blushing at being caught, that compliment certainly did the job. "I'm...going to park now."
"Alright, I'll grab our things." Ren got up, walking to the back of the camper.
As they stepped out of the camper, Ren handed Minako her bag, tossing his own over his shoulder. The bags didn't contain much, just extra clothes, toiletries, guns and ammo, y'know normal stuff.
"So do we have any idea what it is we're looking for exactly?" Ren asked. "The last few gods I killed were the size of buildings, so they were fairly easy to find."
"You just couldn't resist bringing that up again, could you?" Minako teased, lightly punching his shoulder.
"Guilty as charged." Ren shrugged. "So anyways, where should we start?"
"Well, since neither of us are particularly good at sensing Shadows, I suggest we ask around, see if anyone's seen anything strange."
"You're the boss." Ren nodded, gathering change for the parking meter.
"Damn right."
Four hours later, the sun had long since gone down and the two were no closer to locating their target. As it turns out, most people nowadays tended to not want to chat about rumors with random strangers they met on the street. Sitting down on a nearby bench, the two Wildcards let out a sigh, frustrated over their lack of progress.
"Damn, I think I'd prefer a building sized god at this point." Minako rested her chin in her hands, kicking away a rock at her foot.
"Right?" Ren chuckled before turning his gaze forward. "Hey, want some takoyaki?" He pointed to the stand across the street.
"Sure, I could eat right about now."
Ren nodded, walking over to grab some food for the two of them. Almost as soon as he left, Minako felt a hand touch her shoulder. Spinning around, her eyes widened in surprise as another pair of eyes were mere inches away. Minako nearly fell off of the bench as she jolted back.
"Hi there." The stranger, a young woman with clearly no sense of personal space, greeted. "Would you be interested in making love?"
"Wh-HUH!?" Minako's jaw dropped at the boldness of this stranger.
"Would you be interested in making love with me? Your friend can come too. The more love we spread the less hate anger there will be in the world. Isn't that beautiful?"
"R-Ren!" Minako called over her partner, not taking her eyes off the woman.
Ren, upon seeing the situation, dropped the takoyaki and ran over. "What's going on?"
"My uh, my new friend here has an...interesting proposition for us." She explained before turning back to the woman. "What was it again?"
"Would you like to make love with me?" The woman repeated, turning to Ren.
"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Names aren't important when two people become one. Or in this case, three become one."
"Interesting." Ren nodded.
"And where, hypothetically, would we go if we agreed to come with you?" Minako asked.
"Why, Cupid's Garden of course!" The woman answered enthusiastically before grabbing Minako's hand. "C'mon silly! Let's go already!"
"You know what? How about we meet you there?" Minako suggested, giving her best smile. "We need to grab some things first before we go."
"Alrighty then! See you there!" The woman ran off excitedly.
Watching her go, the two Wildcards were silent before turning to each other with odd expressions.
"That was weird." Minako finally stated.
"Definitely." Ren nodded. "But I guess we know where we need to check out." Minako frowned, raising an eyebrow. "To investigate!" He clarified.
"Just messing with you." She smiled, pulling out her phone. "I'm gonna update Fuuka on our progress. Let's head out."
They were able to find Cupid's Garden fairly easily, searching it up online, they immediately found directions bringing them to the heart of Kyoto's red-light district. The building itself didn't seem anything out of the ordinary, a three story building painted pink on the outside with angelic baby statues decorating the front.
"This is the place." Ren confirmed, reading the sign hung over the door. "Got your weapons?"
"Yep." Minako nodded, feeling the weight of her pistol in her bag. "We can't just go in guns blazing. The place is full of civilians. We need to identify the Deity first, then we can act. So no costumes either."
"Got it."
Though it took some practice, the other members of the Shadow Operatives had learned to create costumes and masks in the Metaverse. It was agreed upon by everyone that the Phantom Thieves had the most efficient method of summoning their Personas as well as concealing their identities, hence the need for each team member's codename. And while the others had to learn to create costumes when in the Metaverse, the Phantom Thieves had to 'unlearn' it, figuring out how to maintain their civilian appearance when going in.
"It'll be tricky though, Deities can disguise themselves as humans." She explained, recalling a certain boy with a yellow scarf.
"Right." Ren nodded, recalling his own experience with the fake Igor.
"Then let's do this."
The two of them entered the building and immediately experienced a strange effect. It was almost as if the atmosphere in the building had thin film to it that gave everything a pink hue, literally making them see through rose tinted glasses. A melody played all throughout the building, harps from the sound of it, their enchanting tune eased the tension in the muscles. Just standing in the lobby of this place felt strangely...euphoric.
"Welcome to Cupid's Garden." The receptionist behind the desk smiled at them. "A room for two I assume?"
"..."
"Sir? Madam?"
"Huh?" Minako turned back to the receptionist. Her mind felt foggy, unable to form a complete train of thought. In fact, she couldn't even remember why they'd first come in here. Turning to Ren, she saw that he was in a similar state to her.
"Would the two of you like a room?"
"Y-Yes. Yes please." Minako nodded. Is that why they came here? It had to be right? Why else would you come to one of these places?
"Rose?" The receptionist called to the back room.
From behind the door, a young woman with wavy brunette hair dressed as a French maid entered the room. "Yes ma'am?"
"Show our guests to an open room." Looking the two of them up and down once more, she smirked, pleased with what she saw. "Give them the 'special' room."
"Of course ma'am." Rose bowed before approaching the two guests. Taking them each by the hand, she smiled before leading them up the stairs and through the hallway.
As they passed by each room, various sounds echoed throughout the hallway. Moans of pleasure, creaking bed frames, even a whip cracking. Turning to face each other, Minako looked up at Ren with a curious glance as he did the same. Studying each other's features, the two of them really took one another in, viewing each other with new eyes, each realized just how attractive the other was.
Minako's perception became foggy once again, making it difficult to perceive what was happening around her. The next thing she knew, she was lying in a heart shaped bed, feeling the soft velvet on her exposed skin. At some point she seemed to have gotten undressed as she was now left in only her lacy red bra and panties. Her smooth, pale skin exposed to the red tinted lights of the room, she would've been embarrassed if not for the overwhelming feeling of nirvana that seemed to pulse through her body.
The sound of the shower turning off in the other room caught her attention as a figure then stepped out of the bathroom in only a towel. Minako let out a small gasp at the sight as beads of water ran down his chest before tracing his defined abdominals. Turning her gaze upwards, she glimpsed a rare sight of Ren's face without his bangs in the way. Turning her gaze downwards, she spotted the 'V' shaped muscle at his hips which she followed down until the view was unfortunately blocked by the aforementioned towel.
"Hey." Ren's husky voice greeted. "You want a turn next or…"
"How about the two of us share one after we're done?" Minako bit her lip as she sultrily crawled to the front of the bed. "But for now," She beckoned with her fingers. "Get over here."
Ren didn't need any more convincing as he quickly made his way onto the bed, crawling forward as Minako crawled back, both smiling mischievously. As they did so, Minako unintentionally hit the back of her head against the bed frame, sending a jolt of pain down her neck and through her body.
"Are you okay?" Ren asked, concerned.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." She winced, feeling the back of her head to ensure there was no blood.
"Good, I'd hate to see someone as beautiful as yourself get hurt. You don't deserve to feel pain, especially after everything you've gone through. I just want to make you happy." He said, leaning in for a kiss.
"Wait a minute." Minako put a hand up to stop him. "What...What are we doing?" She turned her eyes to the room around her. "How did we get here?"
"How did we…? Huh?" Ren seemed confused. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is you and m-" His sentence was interrupted by a hard slap to the face, courtesy of Minako.
"Snap out of it!"
"Wh-Minako? Why'd you slap me?" His gaze suddenly turned downward. "Why are you…" He seemingly lost his train of thought, tempting Minako to slap him again. "Why am I naked!?" He quickly backed away, tightening his grip on the towel.
"We got brainwashed, obviously." Minako got off the bed and stood up, searching for her bag. "We need to get out of here and regroup before-"
"Come on now. It was just getting exciting." A voice from the back corner interrupted. Turning to the source of the voice, the two Wildcards spotted the woman who led them to their room.
"Rose?" Ren recoiled in surprise.
"Eros actually." She stood up from her chair. "I'm the embodiment of humanity's sexual desire. And you two are friends of Igor's, I can smell it on you. Sent here to kill me I presume."
"Sent to stop you before you enslave humanity." Minako felt her foot brush against leather. Glancing down, she spotted her bag next to the nightstand. Still unsure of this god's power, she didn't want to make any sudden movements that might get her or Ren killed, so for now she kept still.
"Everyone's already a slave to their desires." Eros retorted. "I just make them give into their more...procreative ones. Love is what makes the world go round after all."
"Love!?" Ren protested. "I've seen a place like this before, it's just a sick temple to your desires. There's no love in that!"
"Isn't there?" Eros argued, approaching Ren. "I can't make desire out of nothing. Deep in the back of your minds, the two of you wanted this. Wanted each other." She looked between them. "You've both experienced so much pain in your lives. So much hardship. So why not give in?" She cupped Ren's chin, standing on her toes to be on equal ground. "Experience a pleasure so intense that you'll never want to stop."
*BANG*
A gunshot sounded through the room. Turning to the source, Ren spotted Minako holding a smoking gun in her hands pointed in his direction. Turning back to Eros, he spotted the gaping hole going through the side of her head. No blood poured out though, no bits of skull or brain showed either. Instead, it was more like broken porcelain or glass with a web of cracks growing from the hole.
"I see." Eros released Ren from her grasp. "How unfortunate." Those were her last words before crumbling into dust that blew away into nothing.
"Whoa." Ren turned back to Minako. "You killed her."
"Not really killed." She replied. "Cognitive beings don't die, more just...get pushed to the back of the mind."
"Oh...right." Ren vaguely recalled Yaldabaoth saying something along those lines. Somehow all of his talk earlier about killing gods seemed less meaningful now.
"..."
"..."
"...We should probably put some clothes on now." Minako finally spoke, trying to hide her blush. "I imagine everyone else here is waking up to some awkward situations right about now. We should get out of here before someone calls the cops."
"R-Right."
Though neither of them said it, both had the same thing on their minds. What Eros had said earlier, about them both wanting this, had it been true? As they dressed themselves again, both snuck glances at the other's bodies, imagining what could've happened had the spell not broken when it did.
5 minutes later, the two exited the building once again dressed in their civilian clothes. All around them, confused patrons were exiting the establishment in various states of undress. One woman was even dressed as a dominatrix and another man was in a full gimp suit.
"There you are!" A voice called out to them from across the street. A familiar male figure with long, shaggy hair and glasses ran up to them.
"H-Hey Zenkichi." Ren sheepishly waved at the man.
"Yamagishi texted me saying that the two of you didn't check in with her for an hour!" He reprimanded them before looking around at the crowd. "What uh...What happened here?"
Ren and Minako exchanged a glance before responding in unison.
"Nothing!"
[Shadow Operative File: 001]
Minako Arisato
Codename: Ace
Status: Temporary Activation
Species: Human
Age: 27
Sex: F
Persona: Thanatos, formerly Orpheus
Description: Former co-leader of S.E.E.S, the team that would go on to become the Shadow Ops, Minako Arisato is one of the first known wave of Persona users in Japan. Fighting alongside her twin brother and the rest of the team, she was there for the sealing of Nyx in order to save humanity. After her brother, Minato Arisato, sacrificed himself to become the seal for Nyx, she was left as the last living member of the Arisato family.
Notes: Minako was offered both the position of Commander and Field Leader of the Shadow Ops, but turned both offers down, relinquishing them to Mitsuru Kirijo and Yu Narukami respectively. Wishing to live a peaceful life outside of the Shadow Ops, she very rarely partakes in field missions.