Rumors about Kallen and Suzaku continued to fly around Ashford Academy. Not only did Coach Nu show no sign of letting up, but the rumors intensified with Kallen's return to school. The story Lelouch had told the Student Council gave Kallen some cover for her actions, particularly her sudden strength, and Kallen adopted the explanation as her own. This generally seemed to satisfy the girls who usually accompanied Kallen at lunch, bemoaning that she had been suspended while Suzaku had not, but guys seemed to give her a wide berth now, lest they give her cause to slug them as well. But Lelouch had no doubt that those girls would turn on Kallen the moment they knew she was half-Japanese.
They weren't going to let that happen.
Coach Nu seemed to be holding that secret over Kallen's head during gym class, and was behaving in an increasingly hostile manner toward her. She refrained from revealing Kallen's heritage for now, per whatever understanding she had reached after blackmailing Ruben Ashford and Earl Stadtfeld, but her body language made it clear that if Kallen stepped out of line again before her hearing, everyone would find out.
In the meantime, Coach Nu openly heaped verbal abuse upon Kallen for her non-participation in PE. After all, she was clearly healthy enough to take down a larger boy. Coach Nu grinned maliciously as she asked what Kallen had been hiding from them all this time, and berated Kallen for not putting her best effort forward.
Kallen took it all while carefully maintaining her now cracked mask of being a meek, feeble girl, but Lelouch could tell she was brimming with frustration. If she gave into Villetta's taunting with a sustained show of physical strength, then she would play into Villetta's hands, shattering that mask entirely by proving to all that her sickness was indeed a sham. Even a short burst of strength could be damning, if it happened in front of so many people.
Yes, Coach Nu was devious. Claims of "adrenaline" and being "fearful" wouldn't be enough for Kallen to salvage the situation if she fell into that trap. All the while, Coach Nu continued to try to provoke Kallen, scolding her for maligning her fellow students in the SSDF, who only wanted to keep the school safe and free from "dangerous influences". Of course, by that, Coach Nu meant Japanese people like Kallen and Suzaku.
Perhaps Coach Nu was even trying to goad Kallen into striking her. The penalties for attacking a teacher would be far more severe than those for punching another student, ensuring that Kallen would be swiftly expelled. Lelouch suspected that Coach Nu might also use the opportunity to have her SSDF goons gang up on Kallen, all while claiming self-defense.
All of it only strengthened his resolve to see that the Metaverse heist was a success.
After school, Lelouch reached out to some of the contacts he had made in the Tokyo Settlement over the course of his gambling career, calling in few favors to determine where he could sell the items he had 'acquired' from Villetta's Palace without awkward questions being asked. He was referred to a shady antiques dealer, operating out of one of the malls in the Tokyo Concession.
The shop was an inconspicuous place from the outside, though on the inside it seemed more than a little creepy, dimly lit and with all sorts of bizarre masks and sculptures that made Lelouch wonder if he had wandered into a store dealing in the occult rather than antiques. Thankfully, he managed to clamp down on whatever unease he felt long enough to negotiate a price for his finds. The pearl was his most valuable item, followed by some silver cutlery he had nicked from Shadow Viletta's dining room, and some old copper coins that, while not particularly rare themselves, were still of enough interest to collectors to be worth quite a bit more than their minted value.
In all, he walked away with considerably more than his usual take from gambling. It wasn't bad for an afternoon's work. Yet lucrative as the Metaverse had proved itself to be, it was also far more dangerous than gambling, and the money was only a means to an end for Lelouch.
There was still time left in the afternoon, so after restocking on supplies for the next day's trip into the Metaverse, he decided on a whim to drop by the bar where Rivalz worked part-time. If even someone as unlikely as Nina could emerge as someone whose power he could draw upon in the Velvet Room, then Rivalz would almost certainly qualify as well. After all, he already trusted Rivalz to drive him around to his illegal chess matches in exchange for a cut of his winnings.
Of course, he wouldn't be telling Rivalz about the Metaverse, Personas, or their plans to steal Villetta's Treasure, as Rivalz had no need to know about such things. Neither did Nina or Suzaku. He knew it was cynical to use his friends in such a way, to harness the power their bonds might offer him, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. The threat of exposure posed by Coach Nu, and his own need for revenge against Britannia had seen to that.
"Oh, hi buddy!" Rivalz called out as he saw Lelouch. "I didn't expect to see you here!" Lowering his voice as Lelouch came over he said, "It stinks that we can't get out to chess matches like we used to during the day, but I can't exactly skip work after school, can I?"
"There's no need to apologize, Rivalz."
"I really do miss it though," Rivalz replied. "Those were the good old days!" Rivalz let out a sigh. "But anyways, is there anything that I can get for you while you're here, Lelouch?" he asked. Rivalz then lowered his voice to a whisper. "Um… well, don't ask for alcohol or anything." It would be different if I was bringing champagne in for Madam President, but I can't be seen serving it to another minor while on the job."
"What do you recommend?"
"Well, the coffee's pretty good here. How about it, Lelouch? It looks like you could use some around now too."
Rivalz could tell that he was feeling tired? His last several nights hadn't exactly been restful with everything that was going on. That was nothing suspicious in of itself, as the Student Council was generally stressed and worn out at the moment, but he had to look worse than he thought if his friend was commenting on it.
"Isn't it late for coffee?" Lelouch asked.
Rivalz shook his head slightly, and then gave him a grin. "Nah, if you have it now, it should pick you up and help you get through the rest of the day. It'll wear off before it can keep you from being able to fall asleep tonight. Really, you should try it! People say they feel more awake after the first sip!"
Lelouch couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Fine. You win, Rivalz. How much?"
"It's on me, buddy," Rivalz chuckled.
Rivalz came back a short time later with a steaming cup of coffee. A pleasant aroma wafted over from the coffee to Lelouch, filling his nostrils, and indeed, the smell alone made him perk up a little. Lifting the cup to his lips, he gingerly sipped the coffee, lest he burn his tongue.
Rivalz was right. It was a rich, stimulating blend of flavors, and its warmth suffused him. He hadn't realized just how tired he had been before, but the coffee made him feel invigorated.
At that moment, a thought occurred to Lelouch. If cognition caused medical supplies to work nearly instantly in the Metaverse, might coffee have similar efficacy there? Caffeine was the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug, and if people felt tired while on the job, coffee would be one of the first things that many would think of. Might it also relieve the mental fatigue caused by summoning a Persona?
Lelouch grinned. Yes, it would certainly work within the Metaverse.
"You know, I think I'll have to come here more often," Lelouch said after taking another sip. "This coffee is quite good."
"You're welcome to come here any time, Lelouch," Rivalz told him. "And if there's anything you feel like you need to get off your chest, I'm happy to listen. I mean, bartenders do that sort of thing all the time."
"It's good to know I can count on you, Rivalz. I think I'll take you up on that offer. You have yourself a deal."
I am thou… thou art I
Thou hast acquired a new vow
It shall become the wings of rebellion
that breaketh thy chains of captivity
With the birth of the Temperance Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
Lelouch left with a bag of the bar's special coffee blend. He insisted on paying for it after Rivalz had covered his cup earlier, though he suspected Rivalz had still given him a discount. Still, Lelouch wasn't complaining. The coffee would definitely come in handy as he explored the Metaverse.
Days until Kallen and Suzaku are Expelled: 9
xXx
Lelouch, Kallen, Arthur, and Milly met outside Ashford Academy again, and entered the Metaverse after school. While Kallen's suspension had ended the day before, she had no illusions that she would be expelled or worse if they didn't steal Coach Nu's Treasure soon.
"It wouldn't be such a big deal," Kallen said, now wearing her Metaverse outfit as Queen. "I mean, I have friends I can turn to outside of the Academy. I can even disappear if I need to."
Doubtlessly, Kallen meant disappearing among her friends in the Japanese resistance. He could see Milly shifting slightly with unease when Kallen alluded to that, as being a member of the resistance was synonymous with being a terrorist to most Britannians. Some actually were terrorists, and would think nothing of holding Britannian civilians hostage if they thought it would advance their goals. Even students would be fair game to the real terrorists out there.
Yet in spite of her momentary misgivings, Milly was in the end a very open-minded person, as she demonstrated with her next words.
"I don't think you've ever meant to harm the other students at Ashford, Queen... You would have had so many opportunities to do so if that was what you really wanted, but short of being manhandled by the SSDF, or when you were demanding answers from Zero here, you've never done as much as lift a finger against them." Milly shook her head. "What I suppose I'm trying to say is... as long as you're at Ashford to learn, and you're willing to make friends, I'll see to it that you're welcomed there. I know that Coach Nu and the SSDF give a bad impression, but we're not all like that. You'd be missing out if you never got the chance to join us on the Student Council. After we steal this Treasure, I'll make sure that it happens."
Milly let out a small laugh. "Besides, we're all partners in crime now! So since we're as thick as thieves, we should all look out for each other. " She turned to Lelouch. "Isn't that right, Zero?"
He nodded.
Kallen looked back and forth between them, as if she couldn't quite believe that they were so wiling to accept her. Her mouth opened slightly, but she paused for a moment, as if unsure of what to say.
"My brother wanted me to receive a good education…" she said finally. "That's something too few Japanese people can get these days. He wanted me to have a future when everything was over…"
Britannia did have public schools that Japanese people could attend, as in spite of its racist policies, it still benefitted from ensuring a certain minimum level of education in its future workforce. However, it was just as much a vehicle for indoctrinating them into their 'proper place' in Britannia's 'superior culture', and only Honorary Britannians could continue to pursue academic coursework past middle school. The rest were limited to vocational education, and only if they could afford to enroll in privately-run trade schools that seemed designed to ensnare Elevens in heavy debts that they would be working to repay for the rest of their lives.
Any further education was seen as being wasted on Elevens, or even dangerous. Ashford Academy wasn't perfect, as it too was required by law to indoctrinate its students into Britannian ideology, often at the expense of historical accuracy or broader perspectives, but the quality of education offered there was still among the best offered in Area 11, even among the Britannian elites. Thus, Lelouch could see why Kallen's brother had been so determined to see her continue her studies at Ashford.
"You will, Queen," Lelouch reassured her. "Do you remember what I told you when you awakened to your Persona? We'll see it through together."
She nodded.
"Good."
"Ooh, you know, with you two making a promise like that together-" Milly began, her eyes lighting up mischievously.
"Give it a rest, Diamond" Lelouch and Kallen said simultaneously.
They had done it again!
Lelouch looked back to Kallen, and then to Milly before shaking his head.
"Let's just focus on the task at hand," he sighed.
xXx
After they reviewed their plans for the infiltration, Lelouch handed out coffee to the group, which he had stored in vacuum flasks to maintain its temperature until they were ready to drink it. Needless to say, Kallen was quite confused, at least until he had a chance to explain his hypothesis.
"That's actually pretty clever," Arthur said. "I bet it would work. The restorative effects of coffee are definitely a widespread cognition among humans, at least from what I've heard. But I'll have to pass myself; coffee isn't very good for cats."
But Lelouch was suddenly distracted by something odd that had appeared besides the gatehouse that guarded the path into Coach Nu's Palace. It was another shimmering blue cell door, just like the one he had used earlier to enter the Velvet Room by the Omotesandō Mall, though this time Shi was standing guard over it instead of Tsu.
"Your teammates cannot see or hear me," Shi said quietly, "just like the people of the Tokyo Settlement could not see or hear my sister. Their contracts are not the same as yours, Mr. Inmate." She paused, shifting uneasily. "Our Master thought to have us open this doorway to you. He said you would find it more convenient if you wish to create new Personas while already in the Metaverse." She shuddered slightly, no doubt remembering the execution of Arsene and Bicorn.
Lelouch was about to reach out to comfort Shi, but stopped himself, realizing how odd it would appear if he did so in front of his teammates when they couldn't see her themselves.
"Hey, Zero, are you okay?" he heard Milly suddenly ask in concern. "You just seemed to zone out for a moment. You were staring right past Queen."
It seemed that they had already noticed that something was amiss.
"Yes, I'm all right," he lied. There was no sense in trying to explain the Velvet Room to them right now, not when they had no way of experiencing it. Doing so would only be a distraction from the task before them.
He put on a confident grin to allay their concerns. "Let's go! Our objective: to confirm the Treasure's location, and if possible, to steal it!"
xXx
Just as Lelouch had counted on, Shadow Villetta had indeed eased her defenses in their absence from the Palace, greatly simplifying their infiltration. There were fewer Shadows on patrol, making it easier to avoid unnecessary fights, and the momentary concealment provided by Nina's smoke bombs let them withdraw from disadvantageous encounters, while leaving the guards wondering which way they had gone.
While they were able to keep a far better pace through the Palace, they also had much more ground to cover this time. Lelouch was determined that they would reach the Treasure's vault before they withdrew from the Metaverse. Thankfully, the coffee proved every bit as helpful as he had hoped, allowing them to remain alert enough to keep using their Personas past the point that mental fatigue would have otherwise started to set in.
From the safe room in the library, they continued to move furtively through the Palace, eventually reaching the battlements, which surrounded a short tower that stood higher than the rest of the keep. If there was one place where Shadow Villetta had maintained a tight guard, it was here.
"They never learn, do they?" Kallen asked as Suzuka Gozen dispatched another Brutal Cavalryman. It was a Shadow that took the form of a mounted knight, but clad in bluish black armor, and noticeably smaller than the guard captain that they had fought earlier. A Cavalryman's lance packed quite a punch if one was careless enough to let themselves or their Persona get hit, and it was far more durable than most of the other Shadows they had encountered so far. Still, few Shadows could stand up to Suzuka Gozen's raw physical power or nuclear fury, even if they were not specifically weak to them.
But as it happened, Lelouch soon discovered that the Brutal Cavalrymen shared a weakness to Silky's ice spells, which he ruthlessly exploited. Knocking one of the Cavalrymen to its knees, Lelouch managed not only to halt its charge, but persuaded it to join him as a Persona, revealing its true name to be Berith.
Lelouch smirked. Berith would serve him well.
xXx
With the guards on the battlements dispatched, they entered the central tower. The first thing that they noticed that the structure of the castle no longer seemed entirely stable. Portions of the floor moved up and down in constant flux, and in some areas were there simply wasn't any floor at all, but gaping holes leading down into a dark abyss.
"What's going on here?" Milly asked uneasily as she peered into the abyss. She looked up. "And why is everything moving like that?"
"If you had to ask me," Arthur said, "it's because we're nearing the source of your teacher's distortion. The further we go in, the less the Palace is grounded in reality, and the more twisted and unpredictable it becomes."
"That sounds about right," Kallen scowled. "Only someone as twisted as her could have something like this inside her heart." She clenched a fist. "And of course she wasn't going to make it easy for us."
"That may be so," Lelouch replied, "but we can count ourselves fortunate that she hasn't raised the alarm yet, and we're almost upon her Treasure. Remain cautious, but know that for now, we hold the advantage."
Nodding, the group continued on, negotiating the treacherous shifting terrain within the keep. But that wasn't the only sign of Coach Nu's distortion. The interior was decorated with a number of statues, depicting Villetta successively crushing her rivals. First, there was a young man in a cadet uniform, followed by a series of bureaucrats and military officers. And then, far more disturbingly, they came across a statue of Shirley Fenette.
The statue showed a pained expression on Shirley's face, and was trapped under a pile of other helpless victims. A statue of Villetta stood atop the pile, looking triumphant in spite of the suffering she had inflicted upon those beneath her.
"Ascent to Nobility", Kallen read from a plaque nearby the sculpture. Her face contorted. "Once again, this is just what I hate about Britannians."
"Indeed, what a disgraceful display," Lelouch snarled. "The parasites who hold power in Britannian society crush the weak to validate their own delusions of worth, justifying all of it with Social Darwinism, and that's exactly what Coach Nu thinks she has to do to become one of the strong herself. She knows nothing of noblesse oblige!"
Kallen gave him a look. "I can actually agree with that. You may not be so bad, Zero... for a prince."
"Never mind that," Milly cut in. "Look at who the others in that pile are!"
Kallen turned back to the sculpture. "They're us..." she murmured, even as her eyes narrowed. "Coach Nu's got another thing coming if she thinks she can put me under her boot so easily."
"Suzaku's there too," Lelouch scowled.
"As is Grandfather," Milly frowned. "But you're not there, Tama."
"Of course I'm not!" Arthur replied. "As far as your Coach knows, I'm just a stray cat that wandered onto the Academy grounds, if she even aware of my existence at all. And I'd never let myself get caught like that!"
"We'll see about that," Lelouch laughed. "Don't get overconfident."
"You're one to talk!" Arthur retorted indignantly.
"We're wasting time!" Kallen snapped. "Let's find that Treasure, steal it, and show Coach Nu what it's like to be crushed under the weight of her crimes!"
"Queen, have I said that you can be pretty scary at times?" Milly asked.
"Nonetheless, I can't agree with Queen more," Lelouch smirked.
xXx
As they continued to explore the central tower, they found a secret passage, hidden behind a portrait of Coach Nu, or rather of the baroness she yearned to be. The passage led down to the lower floors of the keep, and came complete with a hidden door that could only be unlocked from the inside. However, once unlocked, it remained open, and the passage did not appear to be guarded. Presumably, Shadow Villetta used it to move through her castle quickly, but now it would serve as a shortcut for the thieves, aiding any future infiltration efforts.
Retracing their steps, they didn't have to go much further to find the throne room, and slipping into it proved easier than they had expected. The grand doors of its main entrance were of course locked and bolted from the other side, but there was nearby balcony above them, with a smaller door leading from it to what was likely a gallery overlooking the rest of the throne room. They clambered up to the balcony by means of a rope, secured on the end by a small grappling hook that Kallen had managed to pick up during the days of her suspension, presumably from the same friends from whom she had acquired their firearms. She further proved that she had made good use of those days when she produced a lock pick, and used it to open the gallery door for them.
The throne room, which also served as Shadow Villetta's audience chamber, was vast, seeming more like one fit for a mighty queen than a baroness. Indeed, Shadow Villetta was down below, seated on her throne as a Cognitive SSDF member delivered a report to her, while lines of Shadows in the guise of knights stood at attention on each side of the hall.
"They're back here, you useless fool!" Shadow Villetta shouted. "Those patrols didn't just disappear on their own! They're only a few thieves! Why can't you apprehend them?"
So Shadow Villetta had finally taken notice of their presence in her Palace. Lelouch smirked. It was far too late for that. They were practically right on top of her, and yet Shadow Villetta didn't realize how close they really were.
Moreover, Shadow Villetta's rant unwittingly gave them the perfect diversion for making their approach. Her guards were so focused on her that they remained oblivious to the intruders creeping through the gallery above. Nor did they hear the doors to the vault containing Villetta's Treasure opening, which weren't even locked. Apparently Shadow Villetta saw no need to guard it further when she believed that the throne room, the only means of access to her Treasure, was secured. Such sloppy thinking was typical of Britannian arrogance.
The floor of the vault was littered with golden coins and smalls heaps of other valuables around the sides. Lelouch could tell at a glance that those things weren't Villetta's Treasure, not that he had ever expected it to take the form of something so mundane. No, he could tell exactly where the Treasure was. The Distortion around it was palpable. But that left them with another problem...
"Can we even steal it?" Milly murmured.
"What even is that?" Kallen asked.
"Don't tell me it was all for nothing," Arthur moaned as he looked up.
It was seemingly the worst-case scenario. Villetta's Treasure was simply a swirling ball of energy floating in the center of the room, its shape constantly changing. Intangible, there was no way that they could simply carry it off.
"No…" Lelouch said pacing, keeping his voice down so that Shadow Viletta wouldn't hear them in the next room. "There has to be a solution to this…" And after a moment, it came to him.
"What do we know about the Metaverse, and more specifically, Villetta's Palace?" he asked his teammates.
"It's a world of her cognition," Arthur replied.
"Right," Lelouch nodded. "Shadow Villetta recognizes that her Treasure is something that can be stolen. Otherwise she wouldn't bother protecting it, however ineptly. But what is a Treasure?"
"My brother thought it was the root of her twisted desires," Kallen scowled.
"Good. Now, would the Coach Nu back in the real world consciously think of her deepest, most twisted desires as something that can be stolen?"
"Who would?" Milly said.
"Exactly. Coach Nu's cognition of her Treasure as "something that can be stolen" is not quite strong enough for it to take a physical form here, so as it stands, stealing it is in fact impossible."
"So… we'd have to change her cognition somehow," Arthur mused. "But how?"
Lelouch grinned. "We tell the real Coach Nu that we're going to steal it."
"Are you insane?" Kallen snapped. "We're already on thin ice at Ashford! We don't need to give her the excuse to spill our secrets and push for expelling us right away!"
"Of course we're not going to walk up to her and tell her in person, Queen," Lelouch said. "We'll anonymously leave a calling card. Even if she guesses that it's from us, at the least it gives us plausible deniability."
"Ooh! Just like a proper phantom thief would!" Milly said, her eyes twinkling. "I like it! You always did have a flair for the theatrical, Zero."
"Let's withdraw for now then," Lelouch said. "We'll prepare the calling card, and we'll steal her Treasure at the first opportunity tomorrow."
"This had better work, Zero," Kallen muttered.
Days until Kallen and Suzaku are Expelled: 8
xXx
"What is the meaning of this?" Villetta Nu fumed, her hands trembling with fury as she clutched a bright red card. On one side, there were a stylized black figure, almost looking like a chess piece. Its "head" was concealed by a helmet-like mask that was featureless where the face would be, but crowned by five short spikes. The other side of the card had a printed message that was in a font made to look like letters cut out of newspapers and magazines.
"To would-be Baroness Villetta Nu, the monster of envy: For too long, you have terrorized Ashford Academy in the guise of a teacher. Driven by your insatiable desires, you commit blackmail, forge evidence, and subject your team to outrageous abuse for your own advancement. Your reign is now over, for by the by the end of the day we shall steal your twisted desires from your heart and make you confess your crimes with your own mouth. From, the Black Knights."
Copies of the card had been conspicuously posted in multiple locations across the Academy's grounds, all without the members of her SSDF noticing. It was a Sunday, but Ashford was a boarding school, and students were up and about to go to their clubs or head off campus for the day, so by now everyone had seen the cards and was gossiping about them!
"Abuse… are they talking about the swim team?"
"Have you seen them when they get out of practice? They look almost as if they want to cry."
"Who are these Black Knights?" another was saying.
"They're threatening a teacher! Could they be terrorists?"
"I've never heard of them before."
"It's probably just a prank."
"They're trying to smear Coach Nu's reputation," an SSDF member scowled.
"Where was the SSDF when these were posted?" A student next to him asked sharply. "I thought they were supposed to be keeping us safe on night watch. What's the point if they can't even catch a few miscreants?"
At once Villetta knew who had to be responsible - the other students who had been in the Headmaster's Office with her when she had Kururugi framed and dragged in! The three of them were nearby even now, watching her reaction: Lelouch, the Headmaster's spoiled granddaughter, and the halfbreed!
"You dare threaten me?" she demanded, storming up to them. "You will regret this foolish prank! And what's this nonsense about stealing from my heart anyway? Which of you came up with such a ridiculous idea? You'll be the ones confessing before this is over!"
But in spite of her assertion, Villetta felt as if a dagger had been thrust at her heart. What if her desires really could be stolen? Her desires were more precious to her than any treasure, for they gave her purpose and the will to go on. If her Treasure was stolen, then….
xXx
Lelouch watched as the world suddenly flickered and twisted around them, and then there was Shadow Villetta standing in the hallway where Coach Nu had been.
"I've crushed stronger foes than you," she sneered. "So you thieves are calling yourselves the Black Knights now?" She laughed. "It makes no difference to me. Come and steal my Treasure… if you can!"
The world returned to normal. "Well?" Coach Nu demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Coach Nu," Lelouch said with feigned innocence. "But you seem awfully flustered by that message. Could it possibly be true?"
"I will see that all three of you are expelled for this!" Coach Nu fumed. "So enjoy your little prank while you still can! Not even being the headmaster's favorites will protect you for long!"
Villetta marched off, no doubt to shout at the headmaster for their latest offense.
"It is done," Lelouch whispered. "But we have to act quickly. She might fear that the Black Knights can indeed steal her desires just enough for it to work, but if we wait for too long without actually doing so, her cognition will likely change back to how it was before, completely writing the idea off as hoax. If that happens, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to force her Treasure to materialize again."
They all nodded.
xXx
Upon entering the Metaverse, Lelouch paused only to create new Personas in the Velvet Room, using the door guarded by Shi. He paid Tsu to recall Bicorn from the Persona Compendium, and then handed it over with Pixie to the sisters.
"You really have it in for me, don't you?" Bicorn grumbled.
"I had hoped to be there with you," Pixie said, "but promise me that my sacrifice won't be in vain. When I'm reborn as a new Persona, you'll use me to save the girl, right?"
"I promise," Lelouch said solemnly.
"Thank you," Pixie smiled. "I can die without regrets now."
"Let's just get the execution over with," Tsu said.
"Do we have to?" Shi asked nervously.
"Of course," Igor replied. "How is the Trickster to complete his rehabilitation otherwise? You will do your part in this, Shi."
Shi frowned, but did as she was told. A short time later, the guillotine blades descended, killing Pixie and Bicorn. Yet as before, a new Persona was born as their essences mingled and fused together: Slime, a gelatinous green blob with a surly expression.
Lelouch felt a surge of energy flow into the newborn Persona, fortifying it and unlocking hidden potential within it. At the same time, images of Kallen and the time he had spent fighting alongside her, as well as all of their petty arguments, flashed through his mind's eye. At once, he recognized that it was his bond with her, represented by the Chariot, that was the source of Slime's newfound powers.
Lelouch wasn't done. Next, he executed Silky and Jack o'Latern, creating Genbu, the black tortoise that had been the mythological namesake of Suzaku's father. Memories of his time with Rivalz and enjoying the coffee at the bar flowed by, filling the new Temperance Persona with a measure of power. He noticed that it wasn't quite as strong as the surge he had experienced from his bond with Kallen, despite the fact that he had been friends with Rivalz for far longer.
Kallen was privy to and a part of his secret life, meaning he could confide certain things in her that he couldn't tell Rivalz yet. But was that the only reason why Kallen's Chariot Arcana gave him more power than Rivalz's Temperance Arcana, or was there another factor that he was still overlooking?
In any case, the result was more than worthwhile. Unlike Silky, whom he had sacrificed, Genbu was invulnerable to ice spells. Granted, both Silky and Genbu shared a weakness to electricity, but he had other Personas to protect him from that. Still, perhaps one day he would be able to create a Persona that had no obvious weaknesses for his enemies to exploit.
Shi's golden eyes were tinged red after the executions from tears that she couldn't fully hold back, though she didn't break down sobbing like the last time.
"I'm sorry," Lelouch told her as he left the Velvet Room.
xXx
Lelouch earned some funny and concerned looks from his teammates as he rejoined them.
"Hey, Zero, don't go staring off like that!" Kallen said. "This isn't the time to be having second thoughts!"
Of course, to their perspective, he had never really left them, not in a physical sense. As far as he could tell, the Velvet Room and its attendants only existed in his mind, though the effects their services had were observable enough to leave little doubt that they were nonetheless in some sense real, beyond being just figments of his imagination. But he needed to come up with some suitable explanation for his apparent lapses in attention soon, or his teammates were going to start thinking that something was wrong with him.
"I was just collecting my thoughts," Lelouch said, sidestepping the issue for the moment. It wasn't exactly telling them an outright lie though, and it would certainly be easier for Kallen to understand than the full truth. He smirked. "But I'm ready now. It's time to prove to everyone that life at Ashford Academy can - no, will change!"
xXx
Villetta's Palace had a flashing red ambience to it now, reflecting the alarm in Villetta's psyche. Her guards were on high alert, but they were no match for the newly dubbed Black Knights.
The name had been Lelouch's idea. Of course, they couldn't use their real names while writing the calling card, but he was sure that the calling card would have a greater impact on Coach Nu's psyche if it was addressed as coming from a specific group, rather than merely being an anonymous threat that would be all too easily dismissed. As for the name itself, the reasoning was twofold. They would be acting as knights for justice in changing the heart of one as corrupt as Coach Nu. But they would also do so from the shadows, with their true identities hidden behind masks, acting outside the boundaries of any recognized authority, like the blacks knights of medieval lore.
Of course, if he was honest with himself, Lelouch knew that he cared more about getting revenge against his father and tearing down Britannia so that Nunnally could live free of being a political pawn or mistreated for her condition, than a concept as nebulous as justice. He didn't really care whose hearts he would have to change along the way, but Coach Nu was as good a start as any, and he would see to it that she paid for what she had done to his friends. Who could say that there wasn't at least some measure of justice in that?
Still, the others had responded positively enough to the idea of being 'knights for justice', perhaps none moreso than Kallen, which was a bit of a surprise to him, yet hardly an unpleasant one. But it made sense when he thought on it further. Kallen intensely believed that the cause of liberating her homeland was a righteous one, yet she was forced to use underhanded methods to strike back against a far more powerful foe, with little hope of success in a direct conflict. But in branding themselves as knights, they signaled an intention to face Britannian and its own knights on far more equal terms. Establishing that their fight was for justice both reaffirmed the righteousness of what she was doing, and added to it a new moral imperative that she could take pride in, beyond simply avenging her brother or being a freedom fighter.
Lelouch forced himself to return to the present moment. While he could think through things quickly, the heist was something that demanded his full attention.
He would have plenty of time to reflect once they had stolen Coach Nu's Treasure.
xXx
Before long, the four Black Knights had reached the secret passage, which they used to ascend to Shadow Villetta's throne room without further opposition. In the vault beyond, where where the Treasure had once been formless, there was now a golden scepter, inlaid with jewels, floating in the air.
"It looks like your idea about sending a calling card worked after all, Zero!" Arthur said excitedly.
"I didn't imagine it would be so easy," Milly said as she plucked Villetta's Treasure out of the air. At once, her arm sunk down, startling her, and she had to exert a sudden effort to bring it back up again. "Oh, it's pretty heavy."
"What did you expect?" Kallen asked. "It's made of gold, one of the densest metals. Or do you simply not pay attention in class, like Zero?"
"Never mind that," Lelouch replied impatiently as they turned to depart. "There should have been guards posted in the throne room and especially in front of the vault after we sent the calling card, but we were allowed to walk right in. It can only be some sort of trap. We'll have to be ready to fight our way out."
"You could have mentioned that before," Kallen said, shooting him an incredulous look.
"I thought it was obvious. Besides, we needed to take the Treasure one way or the other." He took a step out of the vault. "But I would bet that the Palace's Ruler is right down there, waiting for us."
"How right you are!" Shadow Villetta's voice laughed, stepping out from behind her throne.
"I'm impressed," she said. "To think that such lowly thieves would actually pose a threat to me… if you hadn't thrown your lot in with these rebels, Lelouch, think of what you could have accomplished serving Britannia. Instead you'll die a miserable traitor's death with the rest of them."
"That's out of the question," Lelouch retorted. "Yet you still serve them, despite how you were discriminated against for your own heritage."
"I was the top of my class!" Shadow Villetta erupted. "I slaved away to be the valedictorian, spending long hours studying and practicing harder than anyone else! But I was passed over for the honors I was due in favor of a nobleman's brat! They looked down upon my brothers and I, and fabricated demerits against us, while they lavished commendations upon that brat, all to rig the results in his favor! That's when I swore that I would become a noble myself one day, so they would have to respect us!"
"You'd stoop to framing Suzaku, even when the same thing was done to you," Lelouch said, glaring at the Shadow.
"And you chose to join that same system that you despised instead of fighting against it!" Kallen shouted.
"Resisting Britannia is futile! Everything I've worked for would be meaningless if I turned my back on Britannia now! I had to, for my family's sake and honor!"
"You say you're doing it for your family too?" Kallen continued. "And honor? Don't make me laugh! "
"I couldn't agree more, Queen," Arthur said. He snarled at Viletta. "You're only in it for yourself!"
"Blackmailing my grandfather is only the tip of the iceberg!" Milly said, pointing the stolen Treasure in her hand at Shadow Villetta accusingly, "Nothing excuses how you've treated Shirley, Suzaku, and the others! You're like a demon!"
Shadow Villetta laughed maniacally, her voice getting louder and deeper by the second. "You have one thing right, foolish girl… in this world… I am a demon!"
Dark energy converged on Shadow Villetta, and she started growing to an enormous size. Her shape twisted back and forth, though the darkness kept them from seeing the details of the transformation. At the same time, the throne room began rumbling, and parts of the floor began crumbling away, revealing a deep pool underneath. There was the sound of a large splash, and water came rushing over the sides of the pool as the darkness cleared.
"I am the Demon of Envy, Villetta Leviathan Nu!" the transformed Shadow Villetta declared, her voice and appearance far more terrible than they had ever been. The lower half of Villetta's body had mutated into that of a giant sea serpent. Her upper body was still mostly human in appearance, but covered in thick purple armor, like that of a Knightmare Frame. Her golden eyes glowed malevolently from above them, and her long, silvery hair had become a writhing mass of tentacles, grasping and crushing Cognitive members of the Swim Club. "I believe you have something that belongs to me, young lady!" A tentacle lashed out, grabbing the Treasure from Milly's hands and pulling it into Leviathan's own.
"She's huge!" Arthur cried. "But no matter how big she is, we need to beat her to take back the Treasure!"
"Submit to me!" Leviathan roared, swinging a massive hand through the water to send a raging wave crashing toward them.
"Get to higher ground!" Lelouch ordered. "She can't try to drown us up there!"
"You think it will be that easy?" Leviathan sneered. Her long hair-like tentacles began to attack independently, striking the ground around them with great force. Milly let out a cry as she stumbled on the wet floor, and Leviathan's tentacles moved in for the kill.
"Suzuka Gozen!" Kallen shouted. The red Persona darted forward and deftly swung its blade, severing Leviathan's tentacles and causing them to fall to the ground harmlessly short of Milly.
"Thanks! I thought I was a goner there," Milly said as Kallen helped her to her feet.
"Don't mention it."
From the cover of the gallery, Lelouch took out his handgun, and began firing. Several bullets struck Leviathan, and Kallen and Milly joined him, firing their own salvos. But Leviathan was much too large and her scaly hide was too tough for their bullets to have much of an effect.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Leviathan taunted. Raising her scepter, a lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere, blasting the side of the gallery. It sent chunks of masonry tumbling to the floor and left the thieves exposed. Using her tentacles, she flung one of the Cognitive Swim Club members as a high-speed projectile toward the gap, forcing the Black Knights to dive out of the way. The Cognition impacted with a sickening crunch before dissipating.
"She killed that girl without a second thought!" Milly gasped.
"It was a Cognition, technically speaking," Arthur said angrily, "but it just shows how little she values their lives."
Leviathan wasn't done. She raised her scepter again and destroyed the next section of the gallery before lobbing another Swim Club member at them.
"Any plans for getting out of this one, Zero?" Kallen asked hurriedly, as Leviathan blasted the gallery a third time, causing an entire section of it to crumble. "We can't get close without risking being drowned, and we're too far away here to do effective damage. We'll be out of places to run soon if she keeps casting that lightning."
"Lightning…" His eyes lit up. "That's it." He stood up, dramatically ripping off his mask as his trench coat billowed around him in a sudden wind. "Slime!"
The green blob appeared, casting its own smaller lightning spell, Zio, which it had inherited from Pixie, into the water at the edge of the pool.
Pure water does not actually conduct electricity by itself. It requires dissolved ions, each with their own net electric charge, to carry a current. That was something they had gone over in class, and now he could put it to use.
After all, a pool like that would be filled with plenty of ions from the chlorine used to disinfect the water.
The sudden current caused by Slime's Zio spell rapidly flowed across the surface of the pool in all directions. Admittedly, Slime was far from the most magically-inclined Persona, but it was still more powerful than Pixie had been, and it did its job, shocking Leviathan.
"Ugh!" Leviathan groaned, collapsing into the water with a large splash as her muscles spasmed involuntarily, while her tentacles fell similarly limp. The Cognitive Swim Club members cried out as well, shocked through contact with Leviathan, but a few managed to to free themselves as Leviathan's grip slackened.
"You can't do this!" Leviathan protested. "This is my Castle now!"
"You've had your way for long enough!" Lelouch retorted. "Everyone, commence an all-out attack!"
"Right!" Kallen, Milly, and Arthur called out in unison.
Rushing down the steps from the gallery, the Black Knights summoned their Personas. Suzuka Gozen and Master Cat glided over the pool with supernatural speed, cutting into Leviathan's relatively exposed lower body with their weapons. Medea took to the air, her cape spreading out like wings, bombarding Leviathan from above with fireballs. A moment later, Lelouch summoned his own Berith, following behind Suzuka Gozen and Master Cat.
Nearing Leviathan, Berith readied his lance to strike, but as he did so, Leviathan seemed to recover from her shock, and raised her tentacles once again. But instead of striking out at Berith directly, she whipped the tentacle holding the Cognitive Shirley Fenette into Berith's path, using the illusory girl as a human shield.
Lelouch felt his heart freeze at the sight of Shirley about to be pierced by Berith's lance. Even though he intellectually knew that she was a fake, he would never kill his fellow Student Council member, which caused him, and by extension Berith, to reflexively hesitate, the Persona's lance stopping inches from her chest.
Lelouch suddenly felt a phantom pain around his waist, threatening to constrict him, as Leviathan lashed out with another tentacle to capture Berith in a crushing grip.
"Fool!" Leviathan shouted with exultation. "Caring for others shall be your downfall!" She proceeded to squeeze even tighter. If it kept up for much longer, she was going to break his ribs, and then she would collapse his lungs.
"Zero!" Kallen called out in alarm.
Doubling over in pain, Lelouch managed to pull of his mask again.
"Arsene!" he gasped.
Arsene was thinner than Berith, leaving Leviathan grasping air for a moment. Arsene seized the opportunity to rise out of harm's way on his dark wings, and a moment later Lelouch felt the soothing aura of Dia wrap around him instead, cast from Medea above.
"Thanks, Diamond!"
"Don't think I'm done disciplining you!" Leviathan shrieked, pulling her body upright once again. She seized the Cognitions who had escaped from her, and then sent another wave crashing toward the Black Knights, forcing them to retreat up the stairs to the landing just outside the Treasure's vault.
"She just doesn't give up!" Arthur said in annoyance.
"You can stun her with lightning, Zero," Kallen said, "but the charge gets too dispersed to keep her down for long."
"She's going to start blasting us again with lightning from her Treasure too," Milly frowned, "and she'll keep using members of the Cognitive Swim Club to attack us."
"Then we'll need to take back that Treasure and turn it against her," Lelouch said. "Diamond, we'll distract Villetta. Use Medea to swoop down, grab the Treasure, and see if you can give her a taste of her own medicine with it."
"Got it!"
"Have you learned nothing?" Leviathan sneered as Lelouch, Arthur, and Kallen approached the edge of the pool, while Milly darted along the side of the gallery that hadn't been destroyed yet. A flurry of tentacles rained down toward the three Black Knights at the poolside.
"Slime!" Lelouch shouted, summoning the green blob once again. Besides inheriting Pixie and Bicorn's abilities, Slime was highly resistant to physical attacks, and Leviathan's tentacles slowed as they encountered and then got stuck in its viscous body. Kallen wasted no time in slicing through the offending tentacles with Suzuka Gozen's blade, causing them to burst into black wisps.
"Filthy Eleven!" Leviathan hissed.
"Why don't you take on someone your own size?" Arthur shouted back. "Garu!" A gust of wind conjured by Master Cat sent Leviathan's next barrage of tentacles off course, with some getting twisted around each other.
"You little freak! I should have made sure to finish you off when I had her brother killed!" Leviathan raised the scepter, preparing another strike. "Once I exterminate you, that leaves only the spoiled brat! I'll find her, no matter where she's run off to!"
"What's that about me?" Milly called out. Suddenly, Leviathan was struck in the side with a fireball. In the next moment Medea dived down, yanking the Treasure from Leviathan's hands.
"How?" Leviathan blanched.
"I'm taking the Treasure back. I hope you don't mind!" Milly said with a wink.
"Insolent girl!"
Leviathan's tentacles shot upward, trying to trap Medea against the ceiling, but then Suzuka Gozen was there.
"Time for a haircut!"
As Suzuka Gozen cut through a swath of tentacles, Cognitive Shirley fell from their clutches, and began swimming away from Leviathan as quickly as she could, pulling herself up out of the pool.
"Diamond, now!" Lelouch shouted.
"Let's finish this, Medea!" Milly called.
Medea raised the stolen Treasure high, and there was a rumbling in the air before a massive bolt of electricity discharged and struck Leviathan, who crumpled into the water once again, breathing raggedly.
Now that Leviathan could no longer cast lighting, Lelouch switched his Persona to Genbu. "Rakunda!" Purple energy closed around Leviathan, magically weakening her defenses.
"We have the advantage!" He called out. "Launch another all-out attack! Don't give her the chance to get up again!"
The other Black Knights didn't need to be told twice. Leviathan's scales were no longer quite as tough, and in a short time, they were able to inflict massive damage upon her.
"Impossible!" Leviathan gasped. The power she had absorbed could no longer be contained, and dispersed, leaving a battered Shadow Villetta, once again in her Baroness form, soaked in the pool.
"You can't do this…" she said weakly. "What will happen to me? If you take my Treasure from this place… I'll…"
"Still thinking about yourself?" Kallen snapped. "I know all too well what its like to be discriminated against. I watch my friends suffer through Britannian oppression every day... and my brother is dead because of you!"
"Then… kill me," Shadow Villetta said, her golden eyes downcast. "I've lost. The strong devour the weak. That's the Brittannian way, which I embraced. Have your revenge. There's no point in me going on any longer. The me in the real world will die too."
"What good would that do?" Milly asked nervously. She turned to Kallen. "You know that it won't bring your brother back."
"Why would my brother be so interested in this Palace in the first place? What secrets are you hiding? I want answers!" Kallen demanded, seemingly ignoring Milly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Shadow Villetta replied. "He wanted to protect you. He knew that my Palace forming over your school was bad news for you. I'd never let you be if I discovered your heritage, and that it might eventually lead back to your friends." She paused. "He may have also thought that I knew something about the mental shutdowns, since I'm with Britannian intelligence."
"Do you?" Kallen pressed.
"That's beyond my own security clearance," Shadow Villetta admitted. "But I've been keeping tabs on the incidents all the same. While many terrorist leaders have been killed by mental shutdowns, most of the Britannians who have died from them were political opponents of Prince Clovis in some way or the other. It only makes sense if those people were targeted to have mental shutdowns somehow, and if Prince Clovis was the one to order their deaths. In other words, it's a form of assassination."
Clovis was behind the mental shutdowns?! He knew that his half-brother had become more ruthless as the Viceroy of Area 11, but if that was true, Clovis had become far more dangerous than he had imagined.
"Britannian corruption comes from the top," Lelouch scowled,"and Clovis is as high as you get in Area 11, short of the Emperor. We should have suspected that Clovis was behind the mental shutdowns from the start."
"It seems that way," Arthur agreed.
"So what are you waiting for?" Shadow Villetta asked, looking up at Kallen. "I've told you what you wanted. Now put me out of this misery."
Kallen ripped of her mask, and Suzuka Gozen grabbed Shadow Villetta in a clawed hand. For a moment, Lelouch was certain that Kallen was going to fry Shadow Villetta with radiation, and he shouted for her to stop. That would ruin everything! But Suzuka Gozen instead dragged Shadow Villeta to the edge of the pool and unceremoniously tossed her to the ground at their feet.
"No," Kallen said. "A part of me really wants to, but that would be much too quick for you!" Tears were flowing from her eyes now. "I'm not going to give you an easy way out!"
"Confess to your crimes," Lelouch said. "You may not be able to wash away your sins, but you can dedicate yourself to atoning for them. If you don't, you'll face the justice of the Black Knights once again."
"You win." Shadow Villetta sighed. "Without my Treasure, I'll return to my other self, and she'll confess to everything." She shook her head. "But you if you really think your justice can really change the world, you're sorely mistaken." Shadow Villetta began fade into light. "You had better run, Black Knights. When I go, my castle will-"
Shadow Villetta disappeared.
"What did she mean?" Kallen asked. "Her castle will…"
Suddenly, the Palace began shaking violently. Dust fell from the ceiling as cracks began opening in it.
"What's happening?" Milly cried.
"By removing the Treasure, we've destabilized the structure of the entire Palace!" Arthur shouted. "We have to get out of here now!"
"Isn't that a bit cliche?" Milly asked.
They didn't have time to waste. Yet Lelouch found himself hesitating again. There was the Cognitive Shirley, still on the side of the pool. If the Castle collapsed, she would be…
"Don't worry about me, Lulu," Cognitive Shirley called out. "I'm going to disappear in a moment anyway. But you've saved me all the same. That's enough. Now save yourself, Lulu!."
He nodded, though it hurt him to leave her there, convincing as the Cognition was in its final moments. "Everyone, this way!"
The shaking became only more intense as they descended through the castle, and large chunks of the ceiling began to fall around them. Even after they were outside of the castle proper, the danger wasn't over, as gaping pits began to open in the grounds. No sooner had they made it past the outer gate when it collapsed behind them. In the distance, the keep pitched over and fell into ruin as well.
"Time to return to the real world!" Arthur shouted.
"I can't agree more!" Kallen said.
Reality flickered into being around them, and with a last glance back Villetta's Palace, as if through a distorted mirror, they watched as the fake Ashford Academy imploded, winking out of existence.
"Did we do it?" Milly asked, breathing heavily. They were all back in their Ashford uniforms, save for Arthur, who as a cat obviously did not have one. "We're all still alive, right?"
"It seems so, Madam President," Lelouch replied. "All we can do now is wait for Coach Nu to confess."
"Ze- I mean, Lelouch!" Kallen started. "Look at the MetNav!"
Lelouch took out his phone, bringing up the Metaverse Navigator's log and looking where the entry for the Palace had been saved.
"The destination has been deleted," the app announced.
"So Coach Nu's Palace really is gone," Milly said.
"By the way, Milly… what's that you have there?" Kallen asked, glancing at something in Milly's hands.
"Oh… this?" Milly looked down and found that she was holding ceremonial sword, which she seemed as surprised by as anyone else. "Huh? I thought I was carrying the Treasure. Wasn't it a scepter?"
"I'm pretty sure that is the Treasure," Arthur said. "Remember how the school was twisted into being a Castle? Then this the real world root of her distortion."
"Swords like that are given to the top-ranking cadets at elite Britannian military academies when they graduate to the rank of Knight," Lelouch explained. "Do you remember what Villetta's Shadow said about being passed over for a certain honor due to her heritage, despite deserving it by merit? She felt that this should have been hers, and it was the tipping point where her desire to attain nobility became an obsession."
"We can't just openly carry something like this around school while the SSDF is still on patrol," Milly said. "They'd call it a 'dangerous weapon'."
"Or ask who we stole it from," Kallen added.
"Don't ask me to carry it," Arthur said. "I'm just a cat. A sword like that is much too big for me."
"The SSDF isn't all-seeing. We did a pretty good job putting those calling cards up this morning without being noticed," Lelouch chuckled. "They won't have any video evidence to use either, thanks to a convenient malfunction in the camera system."
"Being the Headmaster's favorite granddaughter has its privileges," Milly shrugged playfully.
"You mean his only granddaughter," Kallen said.
"You've got me there," Milly laughed lightly.
"Anyway, leave the arrangements of handling the Treasure to me," Lelouch said. "I doubt that it will hold its original power after Villetta's change of heart, but I know a place that will take it."
"Aw... it would have been pretty cool to keep, whether as a scepter or a sword," Milly said, handing the Treasure over.
"Many thieves are caught because they choose to hold onto trophies when they shouldn't," Lelouch replied. "It will serve our needs better this way."
"I guess you're right," Milly sighed.
"I'll take care of everything," Lelouch, reassuring her with a grin. "Now all that remains is for us to await Villetta's change of heart. Excellent work, everyone."
Days until Kallen and Suzaku are Expelled: 7
A/N:
The creepy antiques store is a reference to one of the new scenes in the Code Geass recap films, when Shirley is trying to follow Lelouch. For a time, I did consider elevating that shopkeeper to a full-fledged Confidant in a manner similar to Iwai, but I decided that it was better to stick with an established, actually developed character.
In what may be a very minor retcon, I noticed that seven days have passed in story without any mention of a weekend. However, in some ways, Ashford Academy seems to draw upon more of the model of Japanese high schools, at least as they are portrayed in anime, with a powerful Student Council, expected participation in at least one club, and an emphasis on uniforms, to name a few, while being explicitly Britannian. Following that example, I am henceforth assuming in this story (as to my knowledge it is not stated otherwise is Code Geass) that Ashford follows a Monday through Saturday class schedule (as does Shujin Academy in P5), with no official classes but some clubs holding activities on Sunday, which would also be plausible as it is explicitly a boarding school in Code Geass. Working backward, that would place the start of this story on a Monday.
The title of the chapter is a pun on the boss theme of Persona 5 "Blooming Villain". Leviathan is traditionally the demon that represents Envy.
I slightly rewrote part of the battle scene to make better use of the Cognitive Swim Club members following one of the reviews.
Thanks to the reader who gave me the idea for the particular form of Villetta's Treasure in a PM. I also slightly tweaked the dialogue at the end there after a potential plot hole (why don't they just keep it?) was pointed out.
Edit: Like other chapters in the first arc, I have gone back and expanded several scenes in this chapter. As an another side note, I noticed that I've been consistently using "MetNav" in my story to refer to the Metaverse Navigator, instead of simply the "Nav" as in the game. However, as the "Nav" was simply a nickname the Phantom Thieves came up with for the app, there's no reason that Kallen and Arthur couldn't have decided up "MetNav" as their own nickname for it, and it seems equally logical, so I will be retaining "MetNav" in this story.