Literally: to roast two pieces of meat on one fire
Meaning: to solve two problems with one single action
Rough English equivalent: to kill two birds with one stone
Monday, January 2nd, Daytime
"What's the itinerary, Goro-san?"
The two were standing at a bus stop somewhere in the suburbs of Fuefuki. The sun was shining, and it was cold, but not windy. The layer of snow covering the houses around them and the hills in the distance made the whole thing look picturesque. The detective was checking the timetables online on his phone, and the gymnast was amusing herself by stepping on untouched snow and listening to the satisfying crunch.
"We'll have a bus from this stop in twenty minutes." He scrolled down. "We can either change to an express train at the Kōfu station, or to another bus on the stop by the Isawa Hachiman shrine. Both options would allow us to reach Shinjuku in roughly two hours and fifteen minutes. The latter is cheaper, but I personally prefer trains over buses, and thanks to Akira's assistance, ticket price isn't an issue."
"May I offer an alternative?"
Goro and Sumire recoiled away. A third person suddenly just stood next to them, with no tracks in the snow that would show the way she had come from. She looked like a small child, half the size of either of them, and she was wearing a dark blue dress, and a matching headband keeping her long platinum blonde hair in check. Her arms were covered by a pair of black long gloves, and she was carrying a thick serious-looking tome under her shoulder.
Something clicked in the detective's head. "Wait a minute, you were two wardens and then that guy merged you into one!"
"What?"
He turned to the gymnast. "Sorry, fused her into one."
"Indeed, Mr Akechi." She turned to the confused Sumire and politely bowed, with just enough uncanny-valley stiffness to unnerve her even further. "I am Lavenza. My master wishes to speak to both of you about the current situation, and also to transport you back to Tokyo."
"Um, G-goro-san, what is h-happening?" Sumire asked, scared and confused. "Do you know this girl?"
"Just barely." The detective looked into the assistant's golden eyes. "By 'your master', you mean Igor?" She nodded, maintaining eye contact. He had interacted with that tengu-looking man precisely once, but he seemed to be on Akira's side back then. A conversation with him probably wouldn't get him in more trouble. "Very well then, lead me to him."
A door materialized behind her. It didn't look like the cell door he expected - it was slightly translucent, blue with gold decorations, and emitted some faint light. It opened, revealing nothing but impenetrable white on the other side.
"Isn't that the door you went through to fetch the Silence-related cards back in December?" Goro pointed out.
"Correct. Master decided that a one-time change of surroundings would break up the monotony a bit. And, to quote him directly, 'fans of the series will appreciate the callback'."
"Okay then. Come on, Yoshizawa," he commanded, then marched inside, disappearing. The assistant looked at her expectantly, and a nagging thought that had been in the back of her head for some time has finally moved to the forefront - what on earth was she doing here?
For all the differences between them, both Akira-senpai and Goro-san were special people. Powerful. Steadfast. Fearless. She was none of those things, she was just a high-schooler in mourning, way over her head. She was just going to excuse herself, let the blue girl go… wherever, and return to Tokyo via normal means.
Then she remembered Goro-san had the money for the tickets.
"Ms Yoshizawa?" Lavenza asked. "Is everything alright?"
The gymnast mustered up all her courage, and, not trusting herself to not chicken out at the last moment, sprinted into the open door.
Suddenly, piano music.
Sumire's momentum somehow evaporated and she found herself sitting next to Goro on a couch in what, to the best of her knowledge, looked like the inside of a large stretch limousine. On the left wall was a rather large cupboard with various glasses and a few bottles of alcohol she wouldn't dare to sample. To the right, a couch. Blue and black, to match literally everything around them - the curtains by the windows, the decorations on the ceiling, the vague blobs outside.
Across them, on another couch, was sitting… a man? A vaguely man-shaped creature in a suit, with skinny limbs, wide-open eyes, bushy eyebrows, a toothy grin, and a tengu-like nose. On his side, another assistant. Considering the matching hair, eyes and the uniform colour palette, she was probably somehow related to the assistant from the bus stop.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor said.
"Greetings, sir." Goro put up a well-practiced harmless smile. "I didn't expect I would see you again."
"Likewise, Mr Akechi." He gestured to the side, at a young woman sitting on his side. "Allow me to introduce Margaret."
"Pleasure to meet you," she put up a polite smile to match the detective's. "I would like to express my gratitude for savi-"
"Okay, what is going on?" Sumire butted in. "Who are you, what is this place, how do you know one another?"
"Ms Yoshizawa is a newcomer to this," Igor explained to his assistant, then turned back to the gymnast. "I will answer your questions, but briefly, since the audience knows this already."
"What audience?!"
He ignored her. "I am Igor, master of the Velvet Room," he gestured at his surroundings, "a place between dream and reality. Think of me as a guide, helping my guests on their journey. As for how I know Mr Akechi…" He paused for a moment, and his tone of voice became… different. A smidge apologetic. "A few years back, a malicious presence took over this realm, imprisoned me, and established a game for the fate of humanity. One Wild Card was meant to rally the masses, and the other was meant to sow chaos and discord."
"To keep things simple," Margaret piped in, "let's just say that a Wild Card is someone that has more than one Persona."
"Yes," Igor nodded. "The Wild Cards in question were Mr Akiren and Mr Akechi respectively."
"As you might have guessed, I lost," the detective remarked.
"You were convinced by Mr Akiren to change sides and helped bring down the usurper," Igor countered. "And considering that you've forged meaningful bonds and gained better control over your powers in the process, I wouldn't call that a loss for you."
"I have won then, round of applause," Goro clapped sarcastically. "I assume there is a reason why you wanted to speak with us, could we please move on to that?"
He glanced at Sumire again. "If Ms Yoshizawa doesn't have further questions."
She had a few, but opened with a lowball: "…why do you call this the Velvet Room if it's not a room?"
"What you see is just one of its many forms. Also, 'Velvet Limousine' does not have the same ring to it."
She took a breath to gather her wits. "Do I… do I have a Wild Card too? You sounded like it's required to come here."
"No and no. I've allowed my guests to bring others with them in the past as the need arose, whether it be for shelter or for closure."
"Got it." Beat. "No more questions for now."
"Do not be afraid to inquire further." Margaret said.
"I do reserve the right to be vague with my answers though," Igor added. "But to the main point:" he turned to Goro, "as I understand, Mr Akiren has opted to not get involved in this matter, and you and Ms Yoshizawa vowed to undo Mr Maruki's changes?"
"That is correct," the detective nodded. "Akira's burned out, don't hold it aga-"
"As I said earlier," he interrupted him, "it is not my role to judge. My role is to assist. Your invitation to the Velvet Room was not extended by me, but I refuse to rescind it. You have my gratitude for freeing me from the chains I foolishly got wrapped in."
"Don't mention it, sir. The others would have done this without me."
Igor ignored that bit of performative self-deprecation. "If you could hand over your phone to Margaret over here, she will restore the Meta-Nav application on it." Goro did so, and Margaret fiddled with it for a moment as Igor continued: "Regrettably, my Persona-related powers are of no use to you, but I can offer you knowledge about Mr Maruki's current plans, and how he stumbled upon the power to execute them. Exposition, so to speak."
Goro adjusted in his seat. "Any shred of information is valuable at this point." Sumire looked at the host expectantly, curiosity overriding fear.
"In brief," went Igor, "in an attempt to implement his perfect reality, Mr Maruki is attempting to merge Mementos and the real world."
Colour drained from the detective's face. "He what?!"
Sumire raised her hand. "Goro-san panicked so I know this is bad, but… what's Mementos?"
"First, do you know what a Palace is, Ms Yoshizawa?"
She focused. "Akira-senpai and his cat explained it to me…" Once again, she found herself lacking in vocabulary. "When someone wants something very very badly, a building manifests in the not-real world, showing how they really see it in their head. And in that building, there's a thing representing what they want and stealing it makes them reconsider stuff."
"The desire needs to be sufficiently distorted for a Palace to manifest, but this is otherwise accurate." Igor gently nodded. "Mementos is, to put it simply, a Palace of humanity as a whole, related to how they perceive the world. As you know, Ms Yoshizawa, Mr Maruki has the ability to alter an individual's cognition." An important piece of information that Goro should've paid attention to, but he was too busy freaking out. "Combining that with access to Mementos gives him the ability to alter the cognitions of everyone. As far as everyone is concerned, the reality itself has changed."
"How did that even happen?!" Now it was the detective's turn to be the terrified one. Unlike the gymnast, he had been present on ground zero when the last merge happened. "How the fuck did he even get that power?! Are we even safe in this goddamn limousine, what stops that bastard from taking it over like Yaldabaoth did?!"
"Precautions were made so that such incidents don't occur in the future." Once again, Igor sounded just a bit more remorseful than usual. "I have yet to be noticed by Mr Maruki, but if anything were to happen, I shall do everything I can to warn you. And if you regain composure, I will answer your other question."
"Take deep breaths," Margaret added, handing him back his phone.
Cue silence, broken only by Goro's slow inhales and exhales. After the host deemed him relaxed enough, he went on: "Please keep in mind that this is merely a theory." He ahemed. "On the Day of Reckoning, when you and your teammates had defeated the usurper, humanity had rallied behind the Phantom Thieves, granting the Trickster the power to finish it all."
"The Trickster?" Sumire tilted her head, confused. "Oh, you mean Akira-senpai?"
"Precisely. Both him and most of his teammates attended Shujin Academy when Mr Maruki was a councillor there. If they confined their dreams and wishes in him during counselling, hypothetically, he could have ended up with the usurper's power because of it."
"Raise my victims from the dead or get me adopted by someone sane three years ago," the detective muttered under his breath.
"Huh?" went Sumire.
"And the few non-Shujin Thieves could've opened up to him as well," he said out loud, "whether because someone recommended him, or when they accidentally bumped into him like I did. Because of that, Maruki accidentally blundered into godhood."
That much was clear at that point and so Sumire only felt mildly uneasy. "But he can be stopped, right?"
Goro put up a confident facade and smiled at her. "He's not the first god I've fought. I'll manage."
"I am sorry to temper your enthusiasm," Igor piped up, "but there is one more thing you need to be aware of. Namely, there's a deadline."
The facade crumbled a bit, and Sumire noticed that. "Please elaborate, sir."
Igor tented his fingers. "Even with the God of Control's powers, merging Mementos and reality will take time and effort on Mr Maruki's part, but that state will not last forever. As far as I can tell you the two words will be too intertwined to separate by… the first days of February."
"That's… vague," the detective remarked.
"I would rather not risk more precise estimates at this stage. A lot of things can change over a month." Pause. "Well, this is all I wanted to say. Do you have any remaining questions?"
Sumire raised her hand again. "You mentioned that your powers are Persona-related. What did you mean by that?"
"Summoning already known ones from the depths of one's soul, fusing two or more of them into one, turning them into items… Most Wild Cards would find it useful, but Mr Akechi here is a very unique case… but I should let him tell that story."
"I'd rather not tell it," he barked. The idea of Loki still being somewhere in the depths of his soul was irritating. He had outgrown that part of him.
The gymnast decided to change the topic: "I know I only have this one Persona, but could you tell me anything about it?"
"With pleasure." A card floated above the table the host was sitting by. "Cendrillon," Igor stroked his chin with his lanky fingers. "We're deviating from canon, huh…"
"What do you mean?"
"Most Personas like yours are tied to a single element. Resistant to attacks from it, vulnerable to the opposite."
Sumire tilted her head a bit. "An element?"
"Yeah. The exact number of them… changes from time to time," Margaret explained. "If I remember correctly, you're working with eight of them plus Almighty. I have some supplements on the theoretical side of things, you can read them in your spare time." She produced a brochure out of nowhere and handed it to the gymnast. She read its title: So, Your Wild Card Is AWOL: A Beginner's Guide to Picking Up The Pieces, 3rd Edition, by M. Kirijo.
"Could I also get one?" Goro asked, and received.
"As I was saying," Igor continued, "Cendrillon is not tied to any element, and also has no strong or weak spots. Her forte seem to be Physical and Gun attacks, and she also has Charge, which boosts said attacks."
"Fascinating," the detective remarked. "I'm looking forward to seeing it in action."
The gymnast flipped through her brochure, intimidated. "Same, I suppose."
"Now, if there are no further questions…" Igor left a pause, but neither of his guests spoke up, "…I do believe we have reached our destination."
Sumire suddenly found all her lost momentum, tumbled and landed on all fours.
"Are you alright, Yoshizawa?" Goro outstretched his hand and helped her get up.
She scanned her surroundings. She was in a back alley… somewhere. Lavenza was standing next to them, by what looked like a blue prison cell door. "Where are we?"
"I know this place." The detective pointed at a shady looking store behind him. "Akira was getting… supplies from over there. We're in Shibuya."
"Should you have any more Metaverse-related questions, I can take you to my master again," Lavenza said.
"You have no idea how much I appreciate this," the detective politely bowed, "but for now, goodbye. Yoshizawa, we're moving out."
The two walked out of the alley and to the crossing leading to the Shibuya station. "What's the plan for now, Goro-san?"
He pulled out his phone. A new icon was present on his home screen, and he tapped it. It turned out to be an upgraded version of the Metaverse app. He navigated to history and, thankfully, the entries from December and earlier were still present. "Follow me."
The two marched into the station building, into a relatively secluded area - well, as secluded as you can get on a fourth-busiest railway station in the world - and then, confirming that nobody was watching them at the time, the detective grabbed the gymnast by the wrist. "Don't panic," he hissed, then tapped the history entry on his phone.
A moment later, the two stood in a dark twisted copy of a subway station, with a broken escalator leading downwards.
"Welcome to Mementos," Goro said, then looked up at the ceiling. "The cables are new. I blame Maruki."
Sumire looked down at her silver belt. "I… I don't have my tuck on me."
He turned to her. "Your what?"
"The thing I… I attacked you with." He looked down, ashamed about both the lethal force and about losing it so stupidly. "I… I dropped it in Maruki-san's Palace."
"Yeah, don't worry, that happens after you kill someone," Goro tried and failed to sound reassuring. "Hands are shaking, tears swell up in your eyes, and you might or might not end up throwi-"
"TMI!" she raised her hands.
"Yes, apologies," he backtracked. "Do you have… whatever gun you got after your awakening?"
"A g-gun?"
"Well," he explained, "technically it should be just a model, but it will function like a real gun due to the properties of this place."
"O… kay…" The gymnast patted herself down, then reached into an inner pocket of her coat and produced a short-barrelled lever-action rifle, small enough to be fired one-handed. She handed it over to the detective, who inspected it carefully, then took aim and fired it down the staircase. He then pushed and pulled the lever to 'chamber' another 'round'.
"It seems decently made, but I wouldn't try and use it as a bludgeon." He handed the weapon back. "We both need melee weapons. We could go buy some in that back alley store I've shown you, but that would require funds we don't currently possess."
"What about the cash Akira-se-"
"Joker."
"-Joker-senpai gave us for the tickets?"
"It won't be enough for high-quality stuff." He looked at the stairs leading down. "The Shadows downstairs drop money. I'll go pistol-whip them for some pocket change."
"That sounds dangerous."
He flashed a cocky smile. "I have experience, I'll manage."
"And what about me?"
"You go home for the day," he ordered. "If you still want to help me steal Maruki's heart, I'll buy you a new sword and we're going to meet here tomorrow for… an entrance exam of sorts. Can I see your phone?" He received it and said out loud: "The people of Japan, Shibuya station, subway system." A chime confirmed that the location was added the the app's history. "I've added Mementos to your app, so you'll be able to enter on your own." He handed the phone back. "I'd rather see how you handle low-level Shadows before we try to infiltrate a proper Palace." His expression turned stern. "Joker trusts that I'll keep you safe, and I refuse to betray his trust again."
"Got it. I'll read that brochure from the nice lady in the meantime." She tapped her screen. "See you tomorrow!" She disappeared, waving goodbye.
When she was gone, Goro pulled out his revolver and let out a low, satisfied chuckle. "Oh, this will be a bloodba-"
"Sorry, Gor-Crow-san, I'm back!" the gymnast reappeared. "What time do we meet up here?"
"Uh…" he regained composure, "ten o'clock?"
"Okay, got it," she nodded. "Bye!" Sumire disappeared again. Back in the real world, she marched out of the secluded corner and bumped into a boy roughly her age. "Ah, sorry!"
"No worries," he said to nobody in particular, as the girl awkwardly trotted away out of earshot, too shy to look at him. If she had done so, she might have realized that he had recognized her, and that he had noticed her marching into a very special corner with an acquaintance of his.
He was going to watch that spot very carefully.
curryHunter: oi
curryHunter: goro
curryHunter: where the hell are you
curryHunter: its been hours and i cant reach ya and sojiro and wakaba are freaking out a bit
ak56: Apologies.
ak56: I bumped into an old friend from an orphanage and time flew by.
ak56: I didn't realize my phone had died.
ak56: I am charging it at the Shibuya station now.
curryHunter: uhhuh
curryHunter: just get back home
curryHunter: you promised your sis some pubstomping, remember
ak56: BLAST.
ak56: I'll be back in Yongen in a moment.
