Hey guys! I've taken some criticism recently about how this fic doesn't stray far enough from base P5R to be interesting into account. We will do our best in the future to fix this in order to make this story more fun to both read and write.
Monday. It meant the start of a new long and monotonous work week for adults and students. Monotonous for anyone except for the outcasts of Shujin Academy, the cat who swears he's human, and the ghost girl who sits at the empty seat.
Akira walked to school as usual with Morgana in his bag and Sumire right at his side. He held a bag containing their equipment for Palace infiltration.
"Today's the big day," Akira said quietly. Eyeing his surroundings. Of course, students around them were whispering and avoiding him as though he were the plague, which wasn't too surprising anymore. He didn't really care all too much.
"Yo!" Ryuji called out. Akira turned his head toward the cheery blond with a smile. Ryuji ran up to him and walked comfortably next to him. He eyed the bag Akira held curiously. "Didya bring the goods?"
"All in here!" Akira answered.
Ryuji's toothy grin grew as he let out a cheer of excitement. "Man, I'm so effin' psyched for this!" He looked ahead and frowned, up ahead was Kamoshida standing at the school gates greeting students with a photo-perfect grin. "Aw hell…"
Both boys' shoulders tensed. Akira tried to maintain a stoic and neutral mask whereas Ryuji barely hid his discomfort. Morgana peered his eye through the little hole from the zipper not being closed all the way. Sumire held her hands behind her back and glanced at Akira's impassive face.
"Good morning! C'mon, hurry up and get to class!" Kamoshida greeted each student jovially, but that was an act of course. When his eyes landed upon the two delinquents his lips formed a subtle frown. "Good morning…"
"Kamoshida," Ryuji stated curtly. Akira pursed his lips and tilted his head down, avoiding Kamoshida's eyes, but he could still feel the man's spiteful gaze trying to bore a hole into him. They tried to briskly pass by Kamoshida when he blocked their way with a jeer.
"You two can stay quiet all you want, but it won't even matter in the long run."
Ryuji let out a "tch" as he whipped his head toward Kamoshida with a scowl. "Son of a—" He stopped mid-sentence and glanced at Akira before sighing to calm himself. "Y'know what? It ain't worth it. C'mon, let's go."
They tried to walk around Kamoshida but he simply stepped to the side to block them.
"Hey, what's in the bag you got there?"
Akira defensively took a step back and moved his hand holding the bag behind him as he glanced up at Kamoshida's face. His fingers of his free hand curled into his palm. Sumire gave him a worried glance while Ryuji stepped between him and Kamoshida.
"Supplies. Supplies for a project," Akira said.
"Is that so? Mind if I take a look?" Kamoshida asked firmly. He tried to reach for it, but they stepped back as Ryuji got in the way of his grasp.
"Y'heard him," Ryuji growled, "it's just supplies, so if you'll be excusin' us, we'll be gettin' to class like 'good boys'."
Kamoshida scowled. "You two better not be planning anything funny. Now give me the—"
"It's just supplies dammit! Stop tryna hound us ya big bastard!"
Kamoshida stepped in front of Ryuji, his size towering over the much smaller high schooler. Akira took a nervous step back while Ryuji's glower didn't falter. While he tried not to appear fazed, he took a cautious step backward.
"Now listen here," Kamoshida snarled, "you better watch your back, Sakamoto, do I need to remind you—"
"Mr. Kamoshida?" A familiar voice called out. The group turned their heads toward the confused Ann, or at least she tried to look confused. "What's going on?" she asked as naively she could make herself seem.
Everyone but Kamoshida was able to tell she was putting up an act. His scowl softened and smiled gently—it came out as more lecherous and condescending if anything.
"Ah, Takamaki, there you are," he said. "Don't worry your pretty little self and get to class, alright? I just need to teach these two trouble makers a lesson." He waved her away and turned back to the boys.
"W-Wait!" she stuttered. Kamoshida gave her a confused glance. "Um… Uh…"
Sumire glanced and the shaken Akira. He was staring down at the ground. His breathing became quick and shallow as his fingers twitched. She felt something sting in her chest; she felt sour at her own helplessness.
"Akira? Are you okay?" she asked carefully. His breathing calmed down when he heard her. There was a sense of relief that washed over her when she noticed this. However, the main issue still persisted. Glancing back at the stuttering Ann and bickering Ryuji and Kamoshida, she came up with an idea. "Akira, I need you to say this…"
"H-Hey, Ann?" he called out. She looked over at him, he lifted his bag up for her to see. "I have what we need for our group project, y'know? That one?" Ann initially blinked at him confused, but then her eyes widened with recognition.
"Group project?" Kamoshida asked. "What's he talking about?"
Ann nervously chuckled. "O-Oh, right! That project! R-Right, I didn't forget, man, you're so reliable Akira!"
Akira released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Sumire cringed at Ann's poor acting, though she knew whether Kamoshida bought it or not didn't matter. He had an image to maintain after all.
"I effin' told ya!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"So you did…" Kamoshida muttered. "Don't mind me then, but Sakamoto? You better watch your tongue when talking to an adult, got it?"
Ryuji scoffed and scuffed his shoe against the pavement. "Yeah, when ya start understandin' how much of a bitch you are…" he muttered.
"What was that?"
"H-Hey, we're gonna be late," Akira said.
"Tch, fine, get to your classrooms and nowhere else, got it?"
The three students wordlessly went inside. A few other students who noticed the conflict continued to their classrooms, whispering and gossiping to each other. Akira looked around the place with his lips in a slight frown. His breathing remained a bit ragged. He felt a hand gently squeeze his shoulder and turn to face Ann who had a concerned expression.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, man," Ryuji added, "you good? You were really out of it there."
"I'm worried too," Morgana said, his voice muffled within the bag. He tried to stick his head out of the opening Akira left for him to peer out of. Akira looked into his bag, seeing his worried face.
Akira sighed exasperatedly. "I'm… fine. Just…" He was interrupted by Ann who tried to give him a comforting squeeze on his arm. "I'm, sorry you had to see that…"
"Man, don't be like that, you're our friend too, y'know?" Ryuji said, rubbing the back of his head. "Eff', man I just… Look, we got your back too."
Akira drew in a shaky breath and wiped under his eye with his thumb. It felt moist. When he looked at it, there was a stain. "Th-Thanks guys…"
"Aw, c'mere," Ann said, embracing him. He reciprocated the act as Ryuji patted his back.
Ryuji nervously chuckled as he looked away and rubbed his nape. "C'mon, this is embarrassin', we're not exactly in private, y'know? But yeah, don't worry about it dude."
Sumire smiled, she felt a warmth in her chest. She unwittingly reached up to touch his shoulder only to be reminded of her condition. Upon this, she frowned as a twinge of bitterness writhed in her heart. She shook her head, chiding herself.
"You're just being selfish, Sumire."
"I'd hate to ruin the moment, but don't you all have classes to get to?" Morgana quipped. Everyone parted and Akira giggled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"R-Right. Thanks everyone," he said. He raised the bag he's holding. "I'll hide these on the roof, we'll take them into the Palace after school."
Ryuji gave off a toothy grin and palmed his fist. "Alright! I can't freakin' wait!"
"We're gonna get back at Kamoshida, once and for all," Ann said with a fiery look in her eyes. Although the fierceness vanished right after. "Um… What's in the bag anyway?"
"It's all our weapons n' shit."
Her eyes widened. "You seriously brought those here?!"
"Well, Ryuji brought a pistol to school so…" Morgana chimed in.
"He what?!"
"Anyway!" He abruptly turned away and marched away from the group. "Just take the friggin' things where ya gotta and get to class already!"
"I never thought Ryuji would be so eager to get to class." Morgana snickered.
"Shadup!" he exclaimed. Akira began to chortle and everyone turned toward him with confused looks. "Huh? What's so funny?"
Akira cleared his throat, trying to stifle anymore laughing as he wiped a tear from his eye. "N-Nothing, you guys are great, really. Thanks…"
Ann and Ryuji stared at each other, until Ryuji shrugged and grinned with Ann smiling soon after. The bitterness Sumire felt vanished as she too smiled alongside everyone, once again forgetting they weren't aware of her presence.
They all parted for their classes, except for Akira, who went straight to the roof and placed the bag under the desks they usually hang around. There was a warm smile on his lips. He hummed to himself softly as he placed the bag down with Sumire at his side.
"How are you doing now?" Sumire asked.
"I'm doing better now, still a bit shaken honestly, but better… Thanks," he said. He stood up as he continued to hum a few more notes. Sumire didn't know if it was a song, let alone anything she realized, but she liked the tune. "Oh, and thanks for the save back there."
"Yeah… Those two really care about you, don't they?" she asked to which Akira nodded affirmatively as he kept humming. "What are you humming by the way? Is it a song?"
"Oh, that," he responded, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, it's called Memories of You. Is there anything you like?"
"No… not that I'd remember."
"Ah, right…"
Sumire sighed. "Memories… You said you'd help me find them, right?"
"Of course!"
"I thought so... Sorry if I seemed doubtful there, but I believe you." She giggled a little. "Once your mind is set on something, you're set to see it through, aren't you? Thank you again."
Morgana popped out of Akira's bag, eyeing the two of them curiously. "What are you two talking about now? You're gonna be late for class."
"Oh crap, right. Thanks," Akira said. He looked at Sumire. "And thank you for being around. I care about you a lot, you know?"
Sumire blinked at him before cracking a smile. "I care about you too. Anyway, better listen to the cat and get to class now!"
"Okay okay, I hear you."
Akira made his way to class, just barely before homeroom ended. Kawakami briefly greeted him and continued on with whatever she was saying to the class. He went to sit in his seat, when he sat down Ann turned around to him.
"Where did you put it?" she asked.
"On the roof. We'll get it after school."
Ann raised a brow. "I mean, that doesn't exactly make me comfortable, but it's better than anywhere else I guess."
"Well, that wraps up the homeroom period," Kawakami announced. She not so subtly cleared her throat and directed her gaze toward Akira. "Kurusu-kun, a word with you please?"
Ann gave him a concerned look, but all he could do was respond with a shrug. He got up to follow Kawakami, ignoring the whispers of his peers. Sumire followed after him while Morgana stayed where he was, only giving Akira a cursory glance.
They didn't state it to each other, but they could only guess that Kamoshida mentioned something to her. It made them both uneasy, although nothing else significant occurred. Speaking of whom, when they reached the guidance office with Kawakami, the devil himself appeared along with the girl with the ribbon in her hair from the station a while back.
Akira's gaze was averted to the side, looking down at the ground. Sumire frowned, she reached for his shoulder, wanting to comfort him. She knew it was a vain attempt at physical contact, but perhaps she just wanted to reassure herself—give herself a sense of doing something.
She tried to grasp his shoulder. She didn't know it, but Akira felt something bristle against him. He looked up at Sumire who then tried to give him a comforting smile.
"Thank you again," the girl said, garnering Akira's attention.
"Oh, you know this guy, Yoshizawa?" Kamoshida asked. Though subtle his brows creased slightly and his eyes narrowed a little, betraying disapproval.
Yoshizawa… Akira recognized the name somehow. He just didn't recall where he heard it.
"Yes, he lent me a helping hand earlier."
He shook his head. "I recommend you steer clear from the likes of him if you have any consideration for your future," he said. Akira frowned and Sumire glared at him. "Remember the discussion we just had? There are a number of students in this school you shouldn't get involved with. This one's at the top of the list.
Yoshizawa stared at him with wide eyes. "Oh, the delinquent transfer student…?"
"Sorry to interrupt," Kawakami began, "but I need to use the guidance office."
Kamoshida gave her a grin. "Oh, pardon me." He looked toward Yoshizwa. "We should get going too—don't want to get in the way of guiding this delinquent and all." He began to walk away from them, maliciously glaring at Akira who kept his gaze averted.
"Please excuse us," Yoshizawa said.
She bowed politely and followed after Kamoshida. She ended up walking straight through Sumire; when she walked through her, Sumire's vision flashed and a sharp pain shot through her head just like those other times.
This one hurt even worse than the other times it happened. However, the vision she was seeing this time around was much clearer, but it still wasn't easy to make out. Although, she did see… that girl smiling at her? She couldn't remember the colors that well, but it looked like she was wearing the same outfit as her.
Was she?
"Sumire?" Akira asked, but she didn't respond. She clutched her head with both hands and winced.
"Kurusu-kun?" Kawakami asked and he whipped his head toward her. She stared at him with a bemused look. "What's the matter?"
His eyes darted from left to right—from Kawakami to Sumire who was now crouched down. He wanted to stick with Sumire, but he knew that wouldn't bode well. With a resigned sigh, he turned to Kawakami.
"N-Nothing," he said, his voice cracked. Kawakami raised a brow, but didn't bother to press on it further, so she led him into the office where she sat across from him at the table in the middle of the room.
"I'm going to get straight to the point: did something happen between you and Mr. Kamoshida?" she asked as soon as they sat down.
"No…" Ren said. His leg bounced incessantly underneath the table; they could hear the repeated tapping of his foot against the floor. His head stayed down, his head was turned slightly toward the door. Kawakami continued speaking, but he didn't pay attention to what she was saying. Instead, his focus was on Sumire.
Kawakami cleared her throat, causing him to wince slightly, but his attention was back on her. He lifted his head slightly. "Are you paying attention, Kurusu-kun?" she asked.
"Um…"
"Well, whatever. Mr. Kamoshida has a real close eye on you. Apparently, you've been involved with Sakamoto-kun. You seem quite acquainted with Yoshizawa-san as well… Maybe you're just naturally drawn to athletes?" she deadpanned. "Sorry, bad joke. That's all I wanted to discuss. You're free to go."
With that said and done, Akira immediately got up to check up on Sumire. He opened the door to see her in the same spot she was before, but she was standing up again. Her brows knit together as she frowned, as though she were in deep concentration.
"Sumire?" Akira asked.
Sumire jerked her head toward Akira with wide, repeatedly blinking eyes. Akira looked in her direction with a tilt of his head, confusion mixed with worry strewn across his face. Sumire finally snapped out of her stupor-like state and she flushed with embarrassment.
"Oh, uh…" she stammered. "That girl…"
"You remembered something?"
"Yeah, but this one was different… It's confusing, but she… I think she was someone important in my life…"
"I'll… see if I can talk to her whenever the chance comes up."
Sumire nodded in response. The two decided to get back to class where the next teacher was just about to walk in. Nothing of note happened throughout the day. There were a few whispers about an honors student, but nothing substantial came up.
Regardless, with the end of the school day meant it was finally time for their first Palace infiltration as a collective group. They agreed to meet at the entrypoint—the alleyway in front of the school. Akira retrieved the thankfully undisturbed bag from the roof.
"Looks like everyone's here!" Akira announced.
Ryuji palmed his fist with an excited grin on his face. "Hell yeah! Let's bust in there and rock shit!"
"Basically, we just have to go in there and steal the treasure from Kamoshida, right?" Ann asked. Her eyes were narrowed. "We'll make him pay…"
"I'm sure we will," Morgana chimed in, "and I'm happy you're all so eager, but we should pace ourselves. Be sure to remember our deadline is May 2nd."
"Are we in favor of going in today?" Akira asked. Everyone looked at each other with determination in their eyes before focusing on Akira. Everyone nodded together, so Akira opened up the Metaverse Navigator. "Alright, it's showtime everyone!"
With the press of a button, the robotic voice announced the beginning of navigation. The world shifted around them as the view of the front of the school began to morph. Akira felt a warmth in his chest, he could feel his collection of Persona rousing within him, Arsène especially. Blue flames danced around him momentarily as he then found himself in his rebellion outfit. A grin permeated across his face.
The sensation was never going to get old.
They all began moving toward the vent to enter the castle, but Akira was suddenly stopped by Morgana.
"Hey Joker, can I speak to you for a moment?" Morgana asked as he glanced at Sumire. "It's about…"
Akira looked at Sumire who seemed interested in what Morgana had to say regarding her. "Sure," he said. He then addressed the blonds curiously looking at them. "You guys can go on ahead."
"Um… Is somethin' wrong?" Ryuji asked. Akira shook his head, so he didn't push further. "Oh, okay then. Let's go, A— uh… Pa-Panther."
"What's up?" Akira asked once the blonds were out of earshot.
"About Spirit," Morgana began, "I'm just wondering about what she can do. It's apparent the Shadows can see her—she's even distracted them on several occasions before, but I was wondering if she could potentially do anything else."
Seeing Akira glance at her, Sumire began to think. "I mean, I can do ghost things, I guess… Phase through walls and stuff like that. Possession's kinda out of the question though," she said.
"Well, she can phase through walls, so she has that going for her," Akira relayed.
Morgana hummed as he thought. "That'll be useful for sure, but back to the matter of Shadow's being able to see her… She might need to be careful when we're sneaking around…"
"Right…" Sumire began, "I mean, I can just fly over them or something? Hide in walls? It could be fun." The prospect of sneaking around, though potentially dangerous, was a bit exciting to her. It made her feel included in the group's activities in a sort of way.
"Sounds like you have it easy…" Akira muttered. "Eh, she'll be fine." He shrugged.
"If you say so," Morgana said. He then grinned at Sumire. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do, Spirit!"
"You got it kitty!"
Though he couldn't see it, Sumire flashed a cheeky grin at him and held her hand up in a peace sign. Akira snorted at her antics which left Morgana confused.
"What?" he asked.
"N-Nothing!" he said quickly, waving his hand in the air dismissively. "Let's not keep Skull and Panther waiting any longer."
Shrugging it off, Morgana went to catch up to Ryuji and Ann. Akira was about to follow when a blue light flashed, causing him to shield his face with his arm. He looked to his side and saw a blue cell door seemingly leading to nowhere. Justine stood next to the door as it opened on its own.
"My master would like to have a word with you," she said plainly.
Sumire saw Akira cover his face with his arm for seemingly no apparent reason. "Akira?" she asked.
He looked at her with a small smile. "Sorry, I'm gonna be right back."
"Going where?" She saw him walking forward then stopping for no reason. "Akira?" She walked in front of him and looked at him in the face. He just stood there, standing completely still and staring straight ahead. She waved her hand in front of his face but got no reaction. Then she noticed he wasn't even blinking, which was something she wished she hadn't noticed. It didn't seem like he'd snap out of his stupor-like state.
"The prisoner has returned," Caroline announced.
"Well done; it seems you have remembered my words," Igor began, "you truly make it worth rehabilitating you."
"Thanks? But I'm not sure what you're getting at," Akira said.
Igor chuckled. "Worry not, I'm not attempting to withhold information from you. Once your rehabilitation has progressed further, only then its essence will be explained to you. However, I wish to introduce you to the aid we are providing."
"And this aid is…?"
"Naturally, due to your potential in wielding the wild card, you can handle more than one Persona. Thus, it is important to nurture your ability… We will be executing your Persona to create new personalities."
"Execution?" That was when Akira noticed two guillotines, each set up to each of Igor's sides. Akira's grip around the bars of the cell door tightened and his foot began to tap against the ground. "Wait, since when were those there? Hold on, you meant…?"
"Do not be alarmed. Personas are personalities that exist within you, thus, you will only be discarding old personalities to have them be reborn as new ones."
"Discarding my old personalities…?" he murmured. He tilted his head down and his eyes aimlessly searched the floor. What did that mean exactly? He was confused by this new information; would he be erasing a part of himself then? So then those Shadows, or now Personas, are a part of him?
"Do not fret, they are merely facets of your true self."
"Still…"
"Listen, inmate," Caroline began sharply, "you'd best take whatever help we're supplying you for your rehabilitation. This is your future we're talking about!"
Akira didn't hear her, however, as he pondered about his ability. He had found it peculiar how he was able to take in Shadows as his Persona, but didn't give it too much thought about that.
"Akira?"
He blinked and found himself back in the Palace. He stared back at Sumire who was looking at him with a confused and worried expression. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure how he was going to explain what happened. He fingered his bangs, but before he could say anything, Morgana with Ryuji and Ann following behind him walked up to him with worried looks.
"Something wrong?" Morgana asked. "You were just standing around all of a sudden."
Oh, so to them it just looked like he was standing around. Looks like he didn't have to explain much after all.
"Nothing, sorry to worry you guys," he said. "I was just… thinking about the mission. I tend to do that sometimes."
"I see," Morgana said. It seemed like they were convinced much to Akira's relief. "Anyway, it's time we start now. Let's first head into the safe room on the first floor of the west building."
"Safe room…?" Ann asked.
"Don't worry about it, it'll make sense when we get there," Ryuji said. "But man, do we really gotta go all the way there again? Guess we hafta…"
"Actually, we don't have to!" Morgana said.
"Huh? What're ya talkin' about?"
"Just listen. Joker, can you pull up the Metaverse Navigator?"
"Huh? Sure," he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
He looked at the app and saw there was a list for the safe rooms they previously entered. He pressed on the button that was labelled: West Building 1F. They all felt a shift in the atmosphere not at all different from whenever they enter the Metaverse. Then they found themselves in that very safe room much to everyone's surprise.
"H-Huh? When did we get here?!" Ryuji exclaimed, frantically looking around. The room briefly shifted to the view of a Shujin classroom.
"I knew it! We can use the Meta Nav to travel between safe rooms, that'll make things so much easier from here!" Morgana exclaimed proudly.
"What is this place?" Ann asked.
"It's a gap in cognition. A safe room if you will. Basically, it's spaces where the Palace ruler's cognition has the least influence on, so in this case the classrooms in your school."
"I see… So I guess we can hide out here?"
"Basically, yeah. And as we just found out, it looks like we can move between safe rooms."
"Alright, so if that's all then is everyone ready for infiltration?" Akira interjected and everyone nodded resolutely. He cracked the door open in case there were Shadows patrolling nearby. Seeing there was none, he turned back into the room with a smile and said, "Alright, let's go!"
As soon as they got out of the safe room, they turned left toward the next room at the end of the hall. They entered a mess hall for soldiers, they assumed. A lone guard patrolled the area, walking back and forth through the area they had to pass through in order to progress. They hid behind the pillar and watched the guard walk back and forth.
"Why don't we just smash it? I mean, there's more of us," Ryuji suggested, but Ann passed him a stern look.
"This isn't some movie like we can just beat up everything we come across!" she said.
"I'd say more of a video game, but I digress."
Akira couldn't help but crack a grin as he tried to look for an opening. He thought he saw one, so he asked Morgana.
"Hey, do you think we can sneak around it?"
"Maybe," he mused. "But with a large group like ours, it's going to be a bit narrow. Although, I really don't want to unnecessarily expend energy…"
"I mean… Ann—er… Panther could use some combat experience?"
"It's your call." Morgana shrugged.
Akira rationalized that this could've made for a good warm up. Or maybe he could recruit a new Persona. A confident smirk slowly grew on his face as he then turned to Sumire.
"Spirit?"
She grinned back at him and stepped out in the open. When the Shadow turned around to see her, it raised its sword and shield before precariously approaching her. As soon as the Shadow was just about in front of them, Joker used her body as a sort of cover as he quickly stepped out and jumped onto the Shadow.
"Show me your true form!" Akira ripped the mask away and jumped off as the Shadow turned into three Jack-O'Lanterns. "Mona! You know what to do!"
"Right!" he shouted as he bounded out of cover. "Zorro! Garu!"
His Persona burst forth and sliced the air. Green streams of energy flew towards the Shadows. It hit one, but the others hastily dodged the attack.
"Akira, give me your hand!" Before Akira could ask, Morgana was already up to him so he hastily put out an open hand. Morgana jumped up and high-fived him. Akira's eyes widened as he felt a sudden surge of energy shoot up his arm and throughout his body.
"Waoh, what the heck is this?"
"To put it simply, it's called a 'Baton Pass'! Strike your enemy's weakness and you'll enter a charged state I call 'One More'! You can pass the energy to someone else and build up the power by consecutively hitting weaknesses!"
Akira could only assume the Metaverse and cognition had to do with it. The Jack-O'Lantern he was dealing with hurled a fireball at him and he dodged with a backflip. He raised his hand to his face and reached into his heart where he could feel and hear the excited clamors of his Personas. He grinned as he knew which one was perfect. He tore off his mask and called on: "Bicorn!" The Persona was summoned onto the battlefield and with a loud bray. He successfully attacked a different Jack-O'Lantern with wind magic and was crippled instantly. He could feel the energy in him swell. It was exhilarating.
"Ryuji!" Akira shouted and the blond in question turned up to him. "Up high!" With a grin, Ryuji high-fived him and Akira felt the energy leave his body almost instantaneously.
"Taggin' in! Take this!" Ryuji shouted as he swatted the last Shadow with his pipe. With a grin he leaped back and fired at it with his shotgun, immediately destroying it.
"Nice hit! Now pass it to Panther!" Morgana exclaimed.
"Up to you!" Ryuji shouted as he high-fived her.
"Got it!" she shouted as she then raised her hand up to her face. "Carmen! Incinerate them!"
"Hol' up, aren't they—"
Carmen appeared behind her and launched a maelstrom of fire at the downed Jack-O'Lanterns. The boys stared in awe at the destructive power of the attack as the Shadows, though resistant to fire magic normally, were annihilated.
"Holy shit… This pass thingamawatchacallit as freakin' badass!" he hollered excitedly. "We absolutely rocked shit! That was freakin' epic!"
Akira laughed as he pumped his fist up. "Heck yeah! We didn't give them a chance!"
Even Ann joined in on the banter. "You guys were amazing out there!"
Morgana crossed his arms, but he had a satisfied grin on his face as well. "Heh, good going team. Just remember things are gonna get a lot tougher from here on."
Everyone hid behind the several dozen armchairs that decorated the hall in which a single guard patrolled. They figured it was much easier to sneak around it rather than to waste stamina like Morgana recommended, but Akira had to wonder how it didn't catch them. Sumire on the other hand…
"Good stuff team!" she exclaimed.
"You were just floating up there," Akira muttered.
"Hah? Didja say somethin', Akira?" Ryuji asked.
"N-No, nothing."
The group entered into the next room. There was something on a table that was surrounded by metal bars in the center of the room. Sumire simply phased through the bars to see what was on the table. It turned out to be a map of the castle, she then told Akira.
"So, does anyone have any idea how to get in there?" Morgana asked.
Everyone wandered around and tried to look for a way in. Their attention was on two ram heads placed on adjacent pillars. Chains hung from each mouth with a hoop at its end, and their eyes glowed red. They decided to pull on it to see what would happen, but nothing did. With a frown, Akira squinted and looked around.
"Ugh…" Akira groaned. His head began to hurt for some reason and he winced. Everyone looked at him with concern.
"Joker? Are you okay?" Ann asked.
When he opened his eyes, the room looked darker for some reason and it looked like he was looking through a fisheye lens. He could feel his senses sharpening. Every part of him felt more sensitive.
"What the…?" he muttered to himself, not noticing his teammates. His attention was brought toward the ground where there were footprints subtly glowing blue. He pointed at them. "Do you guys see that? Those footprints?"
"Footprints?" Ryuji echoed. Everyone looked where Akira was staring at, but they didn't see anything. "What're ya talkin' about man?"
"Those footprints," he repeated and pointed toward the ground. He turned around to see more footprints behind them. It looked like they led to the ram head. He then began following the footprints going forward. Everyone, though confused, followed him without question to see what he'd do. The footprints led to another ram head that was subtly glowing, so he pulled on the chain to see what'd happen. The ram's eyes stopped glowing red and the metal bars around the map raised.
"Woah… How the hell didja figure that out," Ryuji commented. Akira felt good about himself.
"That wasn't that hard of a puzzle looking at it," Sumire said as she then cracked a grin. "I hope Kamoshida's defense isn't this easy. Actually, please let them continue to be this easy." Akira snorted at her snarky remark. "Still though, what did you mean by footprints? I didn't see anything."
Akira opened his mouth, but decided not to say anything. He just merely shrugged. Sumire raised a brow, but stayed silent. He sure as hell was a special guy. She shrugged and strode alongside him toward the table with the map on it.
"The hell is this?" Ryuji asked as he stared down at the table. He picked it up and scrutinized it before his eyes lit up. "Oh! Is this a map of the castle or somethin'?"
"Looks like it," Morgana said as he nodded approvingly. "This will definitely make securing the treasure route much easier." he then frowned. "Although… It looks like it's just a portion of the castle."
Akira frowned. "That's frustrating, but I'm sure we'll find it." Ryuji passed him the map and he gleaned through it before putting it into his coat. "Anyway! Let's keep going!"
"So… uh… How the hell are we supposed to continue now?" Ryuji asked as he looked up. The bottom of the spiral stairs were broken unfortunately and there didn't seem to be any clear path up. He frowned and scuffed the floor.
"Do we have to go back and find another way?" Ann asked.
"Look up there," Morgana said, pointing at a ram head decorating the stair railing. It had a hoop in its mouth.
"Huh? What're we supposed to do?" Ryuji asked. "Toss a rope over it and climb up?"
Morgana grinned. "Thieves do things a bit more stylishly," he said as he reached into his pouch to pull out some sort of contraption. "Joker, give me your arm." Akira did as he was told. Morgana fastened the device around his wrist.
"What's this?" Akira asked.
"A grappling hook. You can use it to zip to hard to reach places stylishly!" he said proudly. "Though, I only had time to make one so we'll have to grab onto him."
"You what?!" Ryuji shouted.
"C'mon, try it out! Alright, hold on tight everyone!"
When everyone grabbed on to him, he shot his hand out toward the bust and a hook whizzed out and latched onto the hook. Everyone screamed in terror as they were pulled upwards.
"HOLY SHIT!!"
Sumire blankly stared up at them flying up to the stairs before the realization hit her. "Oh, right. Ghost," she muttered to herself as she flew up to them.
Akira had an elated grin on his face whereas Ryuji and Panther were shaken. He saw her rise up to them and chuckled which she then returned.
"N-Never again!" Ann stuttered.
Ryuji keeled over, his breath and legs were shaky. "Holy shit… Oh shit, I need to breathe… Effin' Jesus…"
In the next few rooms of the palace, Akira noticed a few particular books on various bookshelves throughout that looked out of place thanks to his new ability. The writing in them wasn't in any language anyone understood, but the imagery in it was…uncomfortable to say the least, but nonetheless, he held onto them for safe keeping. Though it was definitely hard to keep track of any items during battle. It wasn't until they found the castle's musty library that things started to become clear.
"This definitely seems fishy. Probably has something to do with those weird books Joker picked up." Morgana pointed out.
"Ah, I see. The old 'bookshelf puzzle' cliche," Sumire smugly remarked, to which Akira raised an eyebrow over. As he was searching for whatever spot on the shelf was missing, one set of books happened to catch Ryuji's eye.
"These're the names of the volleyball team members! Wait, what the hell!? All of the titles are boys from our school!"
Morgana, being the shorter one, found the S section of that side of the room. Sumire noticed he was trying to hold a straight face as he read what he found.
"There's one here for Skull! 'Ryuji Sakamoto: The Vulgar Ape'." And he pretty much got the exact reaction he wanted, though he did get a slight static shock on his fur. Even behind that mask, you could still see his fury.
"That bastard! Who the hell does he think he is!?"
"Well we certainly know who he thinks you are," Sumire quipped. She then looked at Akira, who was running his hand through the spines.
"Where's mine…oh, here it is. 'Akira Kurusu: The Criminal Scum', huh? Figures…"
"'Effin asshole…" Ryuji mumbled to himself. It wasn't as thick as most of the other books, most likely because Kamoshida didn't know Akira as well as the other students, but still, now Akira wished he could read it just to see what exactly he thinks about him. Similarly, on the other side of the room, Ann found a bookcase containing the names of the female students. Naturally noticing her and Shiho's names, but that's when Sumire realized something.
"Female students…wait, what was that girl's name again? Yoshi…Yoshi-something. It's a Y!"
She quickly flew over to Ann and started examining the bottom shelf. Finally finding the Y's, her search led her to a book that only said "Yoshizawa", it was worth a shot, but her efforts were in vain for one reason or another. As she stared at the book, her hope diminishing knowing that even if Akira did look at it, they wouldn't get any answers, Morgana walked over to her.
"Hey, Spirit," he asked. "You can go through walls, right? You should probably go take a look behind the bookcase to make sure the coast is clear before we go any further."
Oh right, she had a mission to do. Going over to the shelf where Akira was about to insert the last book into, he realized what she was doing. He paused as he watched her stick her head through the wall. When she came out of the wall, the look on her face was not a pleasant one. It was easy to tell that she didn't like what she saw.
"You're not gonna like this…"
"What's the holdup?" Ryuji asked impatiently. Knowing that this was likely the only way to progress, he reluctantly resumed, and just like that. The back wall opened to reveal…
"It's all pictures of Suzui? The hell is this room!?"
A sudden burst of heat flared throughout the room that all of the guys felt. Even Sumire could feel a slight sense of warmth come towards herself, and they all knew that that wasn't coming from all of the candles and torches surrounding the room. Noticing Ann's hand balling into a fist, Akira placed his hand between her shoulder and one of her twintails, almost jerking his hand away with how hot his glove got.
"Are you ok? We can forget we ever saw this."
Ann took a deep breath, and the room began to cool down. Morgana and Ryuji simultaneously wiped their brows.
"Yeah, I'm okay...Thanks, and no need to forget about it. If anything, I feel even more motivated to do this now."
And with a newly completed map found in the room, the group continued onward.
After multiple rooms, a couple of battles with some pretty ballistic shadows and finding a few hidden goodies along the way, the group was a little beat, but still pressed on. But something about the next room seemed to tick off Morgana.
"Hold on, this place is huge, and yet there are no guards? That seems suspicious…"
"But the treasure's up ahead, right?" Ryuji asked.
"That's what the map says at least." Akira answered, Sumire double checking.
It was clear that Morgana was hesitant. Being the main healer, he was likely the most exhausted out of the group. "I guess that's true…What do you think, Joker?"
Akira nodded at Sumire, and she proceeded to examine the room for any signs of a hidden guard or anything of the sort, checking under every bench and across the aisle.
"The coast is clear!" She yelled.
"Sure. At this point, what's the worst that can happen?" Akira was confident in his stance, but that statement made Sumire give him quite the look.
"You know, most people get the worst that can happen right after they say stuff like that."
The team was then greeted by a brief flickering of the gym. Despite things like the benches and candles sticking around during it, there was no mistaking it. But after the flickering was over, their attention was brought to the end of the aisle, where a giant stone statue of Kamoshida. Naturally, everyone was disgusted. Especially Ryuji.
"I get it, the gym's some kinda holy place for him. He's a god there."
"It's obvious, but still sickening," Akira noted.
There was that heat flare again. They knew what that meant. "I can't believe he can think like that! Especially after what he did to Shiho!"
And with the combined tiny shock startling Akira, things were getting pretty intense for him, even without a battle going on. "God, that bastard makes me so freakin' sick! Just you wait, Kamoshida!"
This was getting a little too much for him. Sumire even had to ask if he was ok out of panic since he was caught in the middle of it all, and Morgana's fur was sticking up. He had to do something about it.
"Save the rage for the battle, guys. The sooner we find that treasure, the better. No use getting so worked up over a statue."
The intense mix of elements subsided, and Akira breathed a sigh of relief.
"I guess you're right. Damn, this guy really gets on my nerves sometimes!"
"Yeah, thanks. I needed that after all this."
The moment was short lived though, as a voice suddenly came through an unknown direction.
"I see… So you're the ones who tampered with the library."
"I knew we should've set that room back!" Morgana was facepalming when he realized their mistake. It was pretty clear once the guard turned into some armored angel that this wasn't going to be easy.
"I told you this would happen! Well, we don't have a choice, let's take it down!"
Things started off strong, with the various benches throughout the room serving as great cover for the team. Sumire jumped and dove from bench to bench in order to trick the knight as to where they were. But since they were attacking from a distance, it was quickly made apparent that Ryuji and Ann's attacks weren't doing much, and combined with the increasing weariness from all of the previous battles, things weren't looking good. Despite all of that though, Sumire did her best to protect everyone, but it seemed that even incorporeal beings had their physical limits.
"Damn, this guy's relentless! At least it's aim sucks for the most part."
"You're welcome, Ryuji!" Sumire panted. With all of the slashes from it's sword cutting up the benches, the available cover was getting scarcer.
"This is bad! C'mon, Spirit, give us a bit more time!" Morgana was healing when he could, but because of that, he wasn't doing as much damage as he could. Even Ann had to pitch in with the healing at times. Meanwhile, Akira was frantically switching between Personas, trying to find something that could work, something that could find some type of weakness. As he was flipping through his arsenal, he didn't notice Sumire flying past him, causing him to take a direct hit as he got himself a face full of armor.
"Joker!"
Those familiar blue and black chains only meant one thing. He was in the Velvet Room. But why? The last thing Akira remembered was seeing Sumire's back and a bunch of gold flying at him.
"The Inmate has come to." Justine's soothing voice welcomed him.
"What happened to my friends? And why am I here now?!" It was pretty clear that Akira did not know what was going on.
"It would seem you need our assistance. You better be grateful, Inmate!" And there was Caroline, snarky as ever.
"Help? How?" His attention turned to Igor, that stare all too familiar to him at this point.
"The you of reality has been knocked unconscious by a powerful blow. Your friends unfortunately seem to be in dire straits."
The look on Akira's face had a slight bit of anger on it after hearing Igor be his usual cryptic self. "Then send me back! I need to help them!"
And yet, he still kept that eerie smile he always had on, no matter what was going on. He didn't even make eye contact with him as he spoke. "Patience. As we said, we would provide you with whatever assistance we can for your rehabilitation. It is time we introduce the process of fusion."
"Fusion?" Akira asked before noticing the guillotines next to Caroline and Justine. "Hold on, since when were those there?"
"Through the method of execution, you discard your old identities to create a far more powerful personality." Igor explained. There was that fear of losing himself coming back.
"Execution? What'll happen to my old Personas then?" There were a lot of uncomfortable thoughts coming once he asked that question. Was he still himself whenever he used a new Persona? He hadn't even been paying attention to that during battle. How much of himself could he lose? Were the others noticing any changes in him? And most importantly, which one was his true self? As if on cue, his first, and admittedly, his favorite Persona, despite how weak he seemed compared to his more powerful Personas, Arséne, manifested in front of him.
"Fret not. I am thou, thou art I. Should we part at this moment, I shall always be at your side."
That last part was very reassuring. Of course the answer to that thought-provoking question would be the first one he ever got.
"Allow me to hear your resolve once more. Will you idly stand by when your friends are in danger? What is your decision, my trickster?"
That part was easy to answer, but hard to say out loud.
"I… want to help my friends and others that need my help."
He seemed satisfied with that answer, at least as much as he could look with those flames in his face.
"That's our trickster. Remember, I am Arsène—the other you that exists within. Though we may part now, I shall always be with you forevermore."
And that was all he said before taking a bow and disappearing into a sparkling puff of smoke.
"Alright, that was sweet, now can we move on with the fusion now?" Classic Caroline.
"Sure. I'm ready now."
Akira watched as Arséne and a random Persona he wasn't really using that often were thrown into the guillotine by the twins. Despite Arséne's prior speech, it wasn't easy watching them be cut up. The fusion resulted in a blue goblin-like creature in a golden pot named Agathion. So this is what he sacrificed his favorite Persona for. But before he could even get a "Thank you, Arsène." out, a bright light filled the room.
"Akira? Akira! Please get up!"
"Huh? Spirit?"
When he woke up, he saw Sumire floating above him with tears in her eyes.
"Akira! Oh thank goodness you're awake!"
She accidentally let herself fall to the floor right through him, really jolting Akira awake. Both of them got up as Akira looked over to his side to see the others still fighting the shadow that knocked him out. The room was practically destroyed with all of the rubble laying around. It did look like the shadow was getting weaker though, even if everyone was only using their basic weapons to attack. Akira summoned the newest addition to his collection of masks, and called out a single attack.
"Lunge!"
Surrounded by an orange aura, he launched himself a full force at the enemy, much to the surprise of everyone else in the room, almost slamming into Ryuji in the process. As the dust settled, all that remained was a bunch of bricks on the ground, and a very dizzy Akira. Once his sight readjusted, he was met with a divebomb of a hug from Ann.
"Joker! Ow." Maybe landing on him while he was on a pile of old bricks wasn't the best idea.
"See, what did I tell you? He's tough!" It seemed that Morgana was healing him with what little vigor he had left.
"Don't lie, I saw you shed a tear too. Noticed while Panther was going all ham on the shadow." Ryuji bragged.
"I'm ok guys, really. Though maybe we should call things here for the day."
Sumire popped her head out from the remains of the benches as Ann helped Akira up.
"Well done, Joker."
That's when they heard some banging from behind the rubble. Sumire quickly went in to notice some guards trying to bust down the rubble. After escaping to the nearest safe room, Akira activated the same teleportation point near the entrance of the palace that they started at. The return to the real world was satisfying before everyone said their goodbyes.
"Bye guys!"
"Same time soon?"
Sumire and Morgana made the exact same face to Akira, knowing that the boy needed at least one day to rest before going back in.
"Yeah, just give me a day or two to rest, ok?"
Once his friends were out of the alley, Morgana had a few choice words for Akira.
"You're lucky I still had some fight left in me. You should be careful not to overexert yourself in the future!"
"Well it was Sumire's fault the shadow bumped into me!" Akira excused.
"Oh no, don't you pin the blame on me! I was just doing my part in that battle!" Sumire quipped. It did sting a little on the inside that Akira was sort of right. But that was when Akira turned it around.
"Then again, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have pulled off that amazing finishing blow."
Akira could sense a bit of a giggle in her as she said something vaguely familiar to him.
"That's our Joker."
