"Welcome back, Trickster," a most unwelcome voice said within Lelouch's dreams. There his jailor was, his bulging eyes all but leering at him with mixed interest and disguised contempt. "You have made impressive progress infiltrating this latest Palace. To explore almost an entire Palace in a single day is no small feat. But as determined as you are, take care not to neglect other areas of your rehabilitation for too long." Igor was playing the role of a mentor, but Lelouch knew better than to trust his motives at this point.
"In your haste to conquer your friend's Palace, there is a new ritual for strengthening your Personas that I was unable to share with you earlier," Igor continued. "From now on, you will be able to execute Personas at the gallows to impart their power and experiences to another Persona of your choice. Now, choose a Persona to sacrifice," Igor commanded imperiously, leaving no room for argument, at least not without provoking his wrath.
Playing along, Lelouch selected the Treasure Demon that he had captured in Shirley's Palace. It wasn't viable as a combat Persona, so he couldn't think of a better use for it.
"An excellent choice, Inmate," Tsu told him. "That Persona will grant the recipient a great deal of power."
"Which Persona shall receive power from this sacrifice?" Igor asked.
Seemingly unbidden, the answer was on his lips. "Mermaid."
"You do not yet have a bond representing the Lovers Arcana," Igor told him. "This will limit the amount of power received. Do you still wish to proceed, Trickster?"
Lelouch nodded.
Shi and Tsu seized the ghostly Treasure Demon, forcing it into a large sack made of blue velvet, tightly wrapping it chains so that it could not escape, before dragging it up the steps of the gallows that had appeared in the center of the Velvet Room. Shi tearfully helped slip the noose around its neck, and then Tsu activated the trapdoor beneath it. The Treasure Demon fell several feet before it abruptly stopped as the chain that served as the rope ran out of slack. There was a sickening crunch, in spite of the apparent lack of bones in the Treasure Demon's body, and after swinging lifelessly back and forth for a moment, it burst into blue and violet light, which rushed to where Mermaid was waiting at the side. There was a flash, and Lelouch felt the Treasure Demon's power become one with Mermaid.
"The sacrifice has been successfully absorbed into your chosen mask," Igor informed him.
"I feel stronger than ever now," Mermaid told him. "With this new power, I can protect you, and those you care for."
Indeed, Mermaid had acquired a powerful ability: Marakukaja, a spell that would not just blunt incoming attacks against one of his allies, but it would protect all of the Black Knights within a wide radius. He still would never allow himself to trust Igor's motives, but the demonstration was sufficient to prove the efficacy of the gallows as a means of fortifying his Personas, and would be sure to exploit it going forward.
"Tsu, summon the Queen's Necklace and sacrifice it on the Gallows," he said. "I want to see what other abilities Mermaid here has hidden within her."
"Unfortunately, Trickster, that will not be possible," Igor said, a demented grin on his face as always.
"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked.
"Your Persona needs time to acclimate to its new power. If it were to receive another such influx of power in so short a time, it would be destroyed as well. You may strengthen another Persona at the gallows if you wish, but you will have to wait at least a day before it is safe to strengthen Mermaid again."
Lelouch grimaced, but it was hardly the first time Igor had deliberately withheld critical information that should have been shared with him from the start.
Frustrating as that was, Lelouch took the opportunity to fuse new Personas while Igor had him captive there. There was Isis, an Egyptian goddess draped with golden wings, who drew upon the power of his bond with Leila and offered complete protection from both bless and curse spells. He also fused Kelpie, a minor Shadow he had encountered long ago in Mementos, with Principality, the green-robed angel Shadow from Shirley's Palace, to create Phoenix, which drew upon his bond with Sayoko. Phoenix specialized in healing and nuclear spells, but more importantly, it was able to inherit the ability to resist brainwashing. Somehow, he had a feeling that Shirley's Shadow might just try to charm him, just as how Azazel had once brainwashed Kallen, Milly, and Leila.
The Velvet Room's bell rang.
"It is time for you to return to the real world," Igor told him. "But beware, Trickster. The trial before you will test you like none that you have faced thus far."
Of course, short of a cryptic warning, Igor didn't say anything else useful before he faded from view.
xXx
"Our objective: rescue Shirley from Medjed and steal her Treasure so that we can heal the distortion in her heart," Lelouch said to the assembled Black Knights outside of the Clubhouse on the Sinking Ship of Lust. It was much lower in the water than the day before, and the bow of the ship, where Shirley's cabin was located, had started to tilt forward into the sea. "The route between the Student Council room and the Treasure is unknown, but we'll have to press onward until we find it. At this point, we should expect that the Palace's Ruler will not let us take her Treasure without a fight."
"What do you think Shirley's Treasure is anyway?" Euphemia asked softly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Milly asked. "It's got to be something related to-" She froze. "Oh no," she whispered.
"What is it?" Kallen asked impatiently.
"Do you remember what Shirley's diary said about the man she would really love?" Milly asked. "Such a person must be the most precious thing in the world. Doesn't that sound exactly like a Treasure?"
"I had surmised that too," Leila said quietly. She nodded slightly at Lelouch. "He, or rather something related to him, is her Treasure."
He was Shirley's Treasure?
"Think about it," Leila continued. "Treasures are objects that symbolize the root of a person's distorted worldview. Shirley's love for you became distorted, and gave rise to this Palace. Therefore, you are inextricably linked to her Treasure."
That reasoning was sound but…
"If I'm Shirley's Treasure, then why didn't the Palace collapse as soon as I left it the first time? How could it sustain itself before I arrived?" Lelouch demanded.
Leila shook her head. "It's not your physical person that is most likely her Treasure. When your friend felt that she had lost everything else, what did she have to hold onto, which she would treasure above all else?"
Euphemia's eyes widened. "No…. Are you saying…"
"It's her memories," Lelouch said, not making eye contact with her or the other Black Knights. "Specifically, her memories of me. Isn't it, Bishop?"
"We can't!" Euphemia protested. "Changing hearts is one thing, but if you steal her memories, then-!" She became too choked on her words to speak further.
"All of our previous targets were emotional wrecks after we stole their desires," Milly frowned. "I mean, their crimes were a lot worse than anything Shirley's ever done, but there's no way of saying for sure how changing her heart might affect her. So are we really prepared to do the same thing to Shirley? And if we have to take her most precious memories of you to do it... will that really make things better for her... or you, Zero?"
"We have no choice!" Lelouch hissed back. "If we don't, Shirley's distortion will only continue to fester and-"
"Then why didn't you steal Jeremiah's desires, Zero?" Kallen interrupted.
"What does Jeremiah have to do with this?"
"Back then, we worried that Jeremiah's desires were going to fester into a full-fledged Palace when you didn't take the germ of his Treasure. But Jeremiah reformed… well, somewhat. He's still loyal to you beyond all reason, but he's no longer quite the Purist bigot that he once was. If even he can change, then why can't Shirley?"
"I'm proud of you, Queen," Milly said. "If Zero were to steal her memories, then you would lose your main competitor for him, but you can rise above that to do what you know is right."
"It was never about her and me!" Kallen replied testily.
"Her distortion is greater than Jeremiah's though," Arthur frowned. "Can we really change her heart without stealing her Treasure?"
"It's all moot until we find her Treasure," Lelouch said, clenching his fist as he steeled himself for what had to be done. "Now let's save Shirley!"
xXx
Sure enough, the key that they had found concealed within Shirley's diary opened the door to the Student Council room.
They were however unprepared for what they found within.
The floor of the Student Council room had fallen away, revealing a vast raging sea beneath it, which could not logically occupy the same space as the rest of the Palace, let alone fit in the real Student Council Room.. Then again, Palaces, and the Metaverse as a whole, operated more along the lines of dream logic than anything else, and at times, their geometry was decidedly non-Euclidean. Half-submerged shipwrecks and pieces of flotsam roiled about, and the Black Knights had to leap from wreck to wreck to traverse the enormous room. Shadows serving Princess Shirley were out in force too, making their passage even more perilous.
But soon, they came to an island, and atop it there was a structure that was unmistakably the chapel from the real Ashford Academy. The echoing sound of wedding bells could be heard from within. Alongside it, there was a small wrecked ship that had run aground. Its cabin was a safe room, and they found shackles and discarded packages of food and empty water bottles littering a corner. Stacked in another corner were enough provisions to last two people for two weeks.
"This must be where Medjed was keeping Shirley prisoner," Lelouch snarled.
"Wait…" Kallen said. "This place was locked behind the Student Council room door. How then did Medjed get in with Shirley?"
The Black Knights exchanged glances. There were no comfortable answers to that question.
xXx
The chapel was filled with masked Cognitions. At the far end of the chapel, in front of the altar, there was a princely groom, masked like the others but with distinctive black hair, and at his side was his bride, with unmistakable straight crimson hair.
Of course. The Black Prince's wedding wasn't to Shirley. That wasn't how the story went. The Prince married the Temple Maiden, who was herself a princess, breaking the Little Mermaid's heart.
To Shirley, Kallen was the Temple Maiden, who had stolen her happy ending from her.
Cognitions of the other Student Council members were there too. Cognitive Milly was practically dangling off Cognitive Lelouch, and Cognitions of Leila and Euphemia hovered near him as well.
"No… why are you making me watch this?" A despairing but familiar voice cried. "Isn't it enough that you've kidnapped me and brought me who knows where? I just want to go home!"
"You needn't wait any longer, Miss Shirley Fenette," a male voice beside her said. He clapped several times. "At last your friends, the Black Knights, are here, and much sooner than expected!"
"Medjed!" Lelouch shouted angrily.
There he was, near the altar, tightly holding Shirley in his grip. Surprisingly, Medjed appeared to be about his own age, though his hair was silver, falling in several bangs in front of his face. His eyes could not be seen, for he wore a visor over them, and he had a long, light blue linen shirt in a Chinese style, though at a glance it seemed almost like a lab coat. He must have been wearing an undershirt, for maroon sleeves could be seen covering his arms, and he had brown gloves on his hands. He also wore a short jacket on his shoulders with a high collar that matched his linen shirt, though it almost seemed like a short cape.
"That's right!" Medjed grinned gleefully, clapping several more times. "But now that you're here, you may call me Mao… not that it would mean anything to you, Lelouch Lamperouge. Oh yes," Medjed/Mao smirked. I know all about you. Next to her, you're the star of the show in Miss Fenette's little tragedy here!"
"Lulu?" Shirley said weakly, straining against Mao's grip. "Is that really you?" She looked like she hadn't slept in several days, and she was dirty and disheveled, no doubt from the squalid conditions Mao had kept her imprisoned in.
"Don't do anything reckless, Shirley," Lelouch called to her. "We'll get you free of him!"
"Are you sure it's not free of you?" Mao laughed. "But why would she want that? You should know by now, Lulu. She wants you here so that you can join her in death!"
"No! That's not true!" Shirley cried miserably, as she buried her face in her hands, as if she could drown Mao's words out, or avoid having to see Cognitive Lelouch's wedding to Cognitive Kallen.
"Why drag Shirley into all of this?" Lelouch demanded.
"I am Medjed, the Smiter of the Wicked!" Mao declared maniacally. "Not only is she a wicked girl, but she must answer for her father's crimes."
"Her father was a geolo-" Milly started.
"LIES!" Mao erupted in rage. "Let me tell you a story. I was born in the Chinese Federation. I was desperately poor, like everyone in my village. I did what I had to in order to survive. Then one day, there was word of a special job, in Area 11. I leaped at the chance. But from there, I was drugged, strapped in a straitjacket, and shipped of to a laboratory in the Narita Mountains, where I was treated as a human guinea pig for six years!" Mao glanced down disdainfully at Shirley and tightened his grip on her. "Miss Fenette's dear father was one of the scientists leading this project. Code-R they called it."
"No, you're wrong!" Shirley protested. "My father-"
"Shall I tell you how the other test subjects screamed, Miss Shirley Fenette, when the experiments failed and their minds collapsed on themselves? Of the tortures I was subjected to, your father just standing by and watching, occasionally making a note on his clipboard? And what did I get for it?" Mao snarled. "My life was stolen from me, and in its place I was given a power that I did not ask for."
"That's no reason to kidnap Shirley!" Kallen shouted back.
Mao ignored her. "But in that moment, when I awakened to my new power, I at last realized my purpose. The world is wicked, but I was to be the white knight of justice and smite it with the hammer of righteous judgment! None of you are free from sin!"
"He's absolutely insane!" Arthur exclaimed.
"Indeed, he is," Leila agreed.
"None of that justifies what you've done!" Euphemia cried out.
"Oh, but it does!" Mao replied. "This girl is one of the worst sinners in all of Tokyo, a wicked witch who embodies the Deadly Sin of Lust! And then there are the Black Knights, false messiahs who spread their own perverted justice. Yet by targeting the few, you leave the masses in denial of their own complicity. Thus, I judge you guilty of the Deadly Sin of Pride, for thinking that you have the right to play God and change the hearts of others!"
"My, my, everyones's finally here!" A voice rang out. It was Shirley's, but it was distorted and filled with malice.
It was Shadow Shirley.
Her dress, or lack thereof, was exactly as before, and she appeared in between the two groups, the Black Knights on one side, while Mao and Shirley were on the other.
"Who are you?" Shirley stammered at her doppelganger. She blinked her eyes and shook her head. "No! None of this real! You only exist in my nightmares!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Shadow Shirley asked, stepping closer to the real Shirley. "I'm you. I'm your Shadow."
"Everything is as we arranged it, Princess Shirley," Mao said in an oily manner.
"What?" Lelouch asked.
"Oh, Lulu, I'm afraid you're being rather slow," Mao said, his words filled with malice. "When I first stepped foot in this Palace, the Princess tried to eliminate me, just as she would any other intruder. But I've always had a way with words. I persuaded her that I was more use to her alive, and that I could deliver the hated Black Knights to her."
"You don't want to suffer any more, do you?" Shadow Shirley asked the real Shirley, now inches away from her. "I know exactly what you're going through. You know that you should turn in the Black Knights because they killed our father, but you can't do it, because in spite of everything, you're still in love with Lulu."
"I…" Shirley murmured, before averting her gaze from her Shadow.
"Look at me," Shadow Shirley said, her voice growing threatening as she grabbed her real self's face, forcing Shirley's green eyes to stare into her supernatural gold ones. "Not only are you wracked by guilt by not brining our father's killer to justice, but because you like Lulu even more now that you know that he's a Black Knight."
"What?" Shirley asked, panic on her face.
"I've always been attracted to bad boys," Shadow Shirley said, practically moaning as she started rubbing herself suggestively. "Lulu was the biggest rule breaker at Ashford Academy, and now I know he's the most wanted rebel in Area Eleven! Mmmm, it gets me so turned on! Just look how dashing he is with that mask! Isn't he the prince we've always dreamed of? It practically gets me wet with excitement!" Shadow Shirley laughed. "Of course, you couldn't just admit that to yourself. You needed an excuse to justify it to yourself, so you told yourself it was because you wanted to reform our Lulu! What a joke!"
"No!" Shirley cried. "She's wrong!" She looked pleadingly at the Black Knights. "You can't think I'm like this!"
"Oh, this is juicy!" Mao laughed, clapping loudly. He wasn't even bothering to hold onto Shirley now, who had collapsed to her knees in shame. "You would turn to the Black Knights, who killed your dear father, for affirmation?"
"We didn't kill him!" Lelouch shouted.
"Then who did?" Shadow Shirley shouted back, her golden eyes flaring.
"We don't know for sure," Milly started, "but-"
"Liar!" Shadow Shirley screeched. "I said it before! You're all liars!" She glared hatefully them for several moments, but then her expression softened.
"Still, Lulu," she said, "I can forgive anything. And as devastated as I was by my father's death, it doesn't matter if I can have you. So please, Lulu. Hold me. Kiss me. No matter what, I will forgive you and love you for eternity. Where others might betray you, with that promise, I can be the one thing that is truthful to you. All that I ask is that you love me for real in turn. So step away from Kallen and the others, and be mine forever. We can repent for our sins together, and live on in heaven. Or maybe we'll be reborn, and fall in love with each other all over again! Doesn't that sound wonderful, Lulu?"
"I'm here to save you, Shirley," he said. "I didn't come here so that you could throw your life away."
"It's because you're with Kallen, isn't it!" Shadow Shirley seethed. She sighed. "I didn't want to do this, Lulu, but…"
Shadow Shirley turned back to her real self and conjured a knife with a blade of razor-sharp coral. Seemingly unnoticed by either of them, Mao had started to take several steps back, which filled Lelouch with a sudden sense of foreboding.
Shadow Shirley placed the knife in her real self's hands, which began trembling at once.
"Wh-what am I supposed to do with this?" Shirley stammered.
"Why, kill Kallen and Lulu with it," Shadow Shirley explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "If you don't do anything about these feelings, they will eat way at you until your strength leaves you and you dissolve like foam. This way, you can end things on your own terms. I perfectly understand you like no other can. Like me, you are a poor, unfortunate soul, and I am you."
Mechanically, Shirley took a step forward, her eyes darting back and forth between the knife in her hands and Lelouch.
"Don't do this Shirley!" Lelouch told her. Don't let her trick you! If murder is a sin, then this absolutely increases the sin!"
"Oh, I like the rhetoric, very pithy!" Mao hooted, clapping in the distance.
"I'm not tricking her!" Shadow Shirley snarled. "I am her, and she is me!"
"No!" Shirley shouted, suddenly turning, and driving the blade into her Shadow's side. The Black Knights, especially those on the Student Council, gasped. None of them had imagined Shirley to be capable of such violence.
"You would try to kill me?" Shadow Shirley laughed as blood leaked from her wound. "Of course you would! I'll kill anyone who would harm my Lulu! Even myself! That's why I have to die!"
"Stop it!" Shirley cried. "You are not me, you wicked sea witch!"
"Ohhh…" Shadow Shirley moaned as red and black energy converged around her. "This power! It keeps building up, more and more! With this much power, I can at last be my own self! Farewell, little mermaid," she said mockingly.
"This is bad!" Leila shouted. "Her Shadow's drawing in an enormous amount of power from her! We've never seen anything like this! If it keeps up she'll-"
Leila didn't have a chance to finish, as Shadow Shirley had completed her transformation, and knocked Leila and the other Black Knights back as she unfurled her wings, producing a powerful blast of wind.
"I am a Shadow, the true self," Shadow Shirley declared. In her transformed state, Shadow Shirley looked exactly like the real Shirley, except she had an angelic pair of white wings that had sprouted from her back, and she was wearing black bondage gear, with one strip of leather across her breasts, one across her waist, and one around her hips. Another strip went down the middle, starting from a collar around her neck, where a chain was fastened, going down between her breasts and extending to cover her nether regions, and presumably up along her spine. Completing the look was a black blindfold that covered Shadow Shirley's eyes and most of her face, with the symbol of an eye etched in the center. "I want to be with you forever, Lulu," she continued. "So won't you die with me?"
"This is totally off the script!" Milly cried.
"No way!" Shirley gasped, petrified in fear by her Shadow's sudden transformation.
"Let us repent for our sins!' Shadow Shirley said, raising her hands wide and to the heavens as spears of light appeared in the air above Shirley.
"Shirley! No!" Lelouch shouted, diving toward her without a second thought. Catching Shirley with one arm and forcing her to the ground, he ripped off his mask with his other hand. "Isis!"
The spears of light erupted over them, but thanks to Isis' protection, both of them were unharmed.
"Lulu…" Shirley blinked, her cheeks flushing red as they were close enough to kiss. "You…"
"Not now, Shirley!" He urged her hurriedly. "Get back and let us deal with this!"
Already the other Black Knights had sprung into action to give Shirley time to retreat to safety with Lelouch. Guren Jigoku flew toward Shadow Shirley, its golden claw outstretched, but Shadow Shirley held out a hand, conjuring a large spear from above.
"You'll pay for stealing Lulu! Die!"
The spear plunged down and struck Guren Jigoku in the shoulder.
"Ugh!" Kallen groaned as a deep wound opened in her own shoulder.
"Noire, heal her!"
"Right, Zero!" Euphmemia cried. "Eilonwy! Diarama!" At once, Kallen's wound closed up, though Kallen clutched it as if it still ached.
"Thanks! I'll try to be more careful!"
"Mermaid! Marakukaja!" Lelouch called out. Purple light flashed around his allies, surrounding them with defensive spells.
"Don't think it will be that easy!" Shadow Shirley shouted as she held out a hand. Lelouch could only look on in disbelief as she effortlessly dispelled the protective enchantments he had cast with a spell of her own.
"Surprise!" Milly called out, as Medea blasted Shadow Shirley from the side, singeing her wings with flames.
"P-pervert!" Shadow Shirley screamed.
"Don't forget about me!" Arthur called out, darting in below her. "Master Cat! Garula!" A powerful gust of wind fanned the flames.
"Arthur, you too!?" Shadow Shirley scolded, wrapping her wings around herself to smother the flames.
"Jeanne d'Arc! Psio!" Leila called, striking Shadow Shirley with psychokinetic energy.
"Who do you think you are?" Shadow Shirley seethed as she launched another counterattack.
"That's not me, that's not me, that's not me…" Shirley muttered again and again to herself. "Please, Lulu… help me!"
Assessing the situation, Lelouch could see that the battle was not going well. While the Black Knights had scored several solid hits on Shadow Shirley, she seemed to be growing more powerful by the second. And at the same time, the real Shirley was getting weaker.
At that moment, Lelouch knew what had to be done. Shadow Shirley wasn't a foe that they could defeat conventionally, at least not as things were. It was a part of Shirley, the part of her that she denied, and her rejection of her Shadow was giving it power.
"Shirley, look at me!" He told her, taking hold of her.
"No, why won't you look at me, Lulu?" Shadow Shirley demanded.
Lelouch barely managed to rip off his mask in time. "Phoenix!" In the next moment, a pink mist surrounded him, and for an instant, Shadow Shirley seemed absolutely radiant, a goddess to whom he owed his devotion, who was to be protected no matter the cost. But Phoenix helped him fight back against the brainwashing, and when he felt the real Shirley quivering in fear at his side, its effects vanished like a dream.
"Nice try!" Kallen shouted as Guren Jigoku charged Shadow Shirley again, nimbly darting from side to side, keeping the Shadow occupied as her attention turned to the Persona that was both the immediate threat and the embodiment of her rival's other self.
"Shirley," he said, trying to speak as calmly as possible. "That thing is a part of you."
"No it isn't!" She sobbed.
With an exultant cry, Shadow Shirley forced Guren Jigoku to retreat, launching spears of light at Kallen's Persona rapid-fire.
"Don't you see, Shirley? Whenever you reject it, it gets a bit stronger. It's feeding off of you!"
"But- What can I do, Lulu? How can I? If that thing's really me, then…"
"Then you can beat it! Only you can, Shirley!"
"But… don't you hate me now? All those things it said… I'm so sorry, Lulu! I'm an awful person!"
"Ugh!" Shadow Shirley reeled, turning her attention back to her real self. "That's right! Who could love me now? Besides, I'm so boring next to Kallen, Madam President, or those other beauties in Lulu's harem. What can I do next to them?"
"That's not true!" Lelouch shouted at the Shadow. He turned back to Shirley. "You're a member of the Student Council, Shirley, and our friend. We all have our inner demons, but no matter what, we'll all be there for you, Shirley. You don't realize how precious your smile, your laughter, your kindness is to all of us… to me."
"Lulu… But how… you're Black Knights… my father…"
"I don't want to see the truth!" Shadow Shirley raged. "It hurts too much! Can't we close our eyes, pretend none of this ever happened, and go back to how things were?"
"Her Shadow's weakening, Zero!" Leila called out.
"Keep it up!" Milly cried.
"I'm sorry that we hid so many things from you, Shirley. I didn't want you to get caught up in any of this. As for you father, I swear that we didn't kill him!" He hung his head. "But we might as well have. If he really was working on Code-R, he was probably killed to cover it up after we stole Prince Clovis' heart and made him reveal the project's existence. I'm sorry, Shirley. I had no idea that would happen."
"But my father was kind… How could he work on something so horrible…?"
"I can't say for sure that he really was part of Code-R. But there's only one way to know… and that's to seize the truth with our own hands, by finding the real killer. Why did you think we killed your father?"
"Because the news said…" Her eyes widened.
"Our enemy controls a third of the planet, including the press. It was easy for them to control the narrative."
"How could I…" Shirley murmured.
"Don't act like you're ignorant of what's around you!" Shadow Shirley sneered. "You see perfectly clearly what's going on in society, yet you act like it doesn't concern you, all so you can continue to enjoy your own comfortable life untroubled by the suffering of others. Oh, you'll reach out to be friendly to Suzaku, but that doesn't inconvenience you in any way. You're the swim team star and a member of the Student Council; now that Coach Nu and the SSDF are gone, no one is going to question who you spend your time with at school, at least not to your face. Yet you witness injustice stretching out before you whenever you pause to look past the boundaries of the Settlement, but you say and do nothing about it. That would actually demand sacrifice on your part, and require you to take a stand for something instead of trying to be the good girl who almost always does what's expected of her. And what did that get you in the end? Heartbreak and regret!"
Shirley took a deep breath.
"You're right."
"What?" Shadow Shirley gasped.
"Lulu…" Shirley said, meeting his eyes. Nodding, he helped her rise to her feet. Leaning on him for support, she met her Shadow's blindfolded gaze without flinching.
"You weren't lying," Shirley said. "I love Lulu more than anything in this world. More than anything, I wanted him to love me in turn. When I saw him going out with Kallen, it tore my heart in two, but I couldn't stop loving him… not even when I thought he had killed my father. That lust for love inside my heart filled me with envy, hate, and despair. I was frightened by what I saw in myself, and so I tried to pretend that it didn't exist. Desperate to make sense of my father's death, I believed a lie. And I knew that how our society allows others to be treated is just wrong, yet I turned my eyes from it because I told myself that there wasn't anything that I could do to change it. But that's not true at all. Lulu proved that himself. That's why I fell in love with him. So I won't avert my eyes anymore! How can I be the one thing truthful to Lulu, if I'm not even true to myself?"
"Seeking the truth will bring you pain," Shadow Shirley said, faltering. "Even if you can be true to yourself, you will have to live a lie before others! Is that what you really want?"
"Everyone wears a mask, Shirley," Lelouch told her. "We do it without thinking about it, to fit into society. How is this any different?"
She nodded. "The Black Knights fight to protect the weak, don't they?"
"Yes."
"If that's the world you're trying to create Lulu, I can stand by your side without regret." She laughed lightly. "Even if you don't feel the same way about me that I do for you… just being there with you will be enough."
Shadow Shirley's form shimmered, no longer the berserk angel, but the witch who had been the doppelgänger of the little mermaid. Any bitterness in her expression was gone, and she smiled gently at Shirley.
"Then make this vow to me."
Shirley nodded.
"I am thou… thou art I," Shirley and her Shadow said in unison. "Though thou shalt don a facade to face life's hardships, thou shall be above all true to thyself. Thy love shall be thy power eternally, even if it leads to hell itself."
Shadow Shirley vanished and suffused Shirley with light.
Lelouch felt something resonate within him as well.
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 Lovers Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…
"Did she…." Kallen whispered.
"Shirley! That was incredible!" Milly cried joyfully, running over to her.
"Well done!" A mocking voice shouted, throwing in some claps for good measure. "I haven't seen anyone conquer their own Shadow like that before! Normally, they destroy themselves! Very impressive! Of course, this leaves me with a problem. I had thought your Shadow would be enough to kill the Black Knights, but it looks like I'll have to deal with you myself!"
"So that's the real reason why you kidnapped Shirley!" Lelouch snapped, turning to face Mao. "You kidnap people, drag them into their Palaces or Mementos, and wait until their Shadow appears! Most people wouldn't be able to accept their Shadow without help, and so they're killed by it."
"That's right! You really do have a big brain, Lulu, one that Miss Fenette laments for you not using to its fullest! Isn't that right, Miss Fenette?"
"I'm not going to let you control me any more, or hurt my friends!"
"Your friends are exhausted from fighting your Shadow. I'm surprised you can even stand yourself. I may be outnumbered, but mopping you up shouldn't pose much of a challenge. After I kill you, I do need to deal with those Irregulars… they broke out of the same lab as me when I shifted into the Metaverse, but they couldn't see things my way, and now it seems they've taken to copying yours. I can't have that."
Another group of Persona-users? Lelouch had been so preoccupied with rescuing Shirley that he had overlooked something as important as that?
"Oh yes, they changed their first heart just a few days ago. You didn't hear about it? What a shame. Now you never will." Mao clutched his head, his expression contorting in agony.
"Momus!" A demonic jester rose overhead, connected to Mao by chains, and rushed toward the Black Knights…. only to be thrown back by a sudden gust of wind that swirled around Shirley.
"It's my turn to protect you! Maid Marian!" she shouted.
Blue flames wreathed Shirley, and when they had vanished, her Ashford Academy uniform had disappeared and been replaced by a new outfit. She wore what looked like a black version of the swimming club's one piece swimsuit, with a coat suspiciously like Zero's draped over her shoulders and matching red gloves on her hands. Her legs were clad with thigh-high, high heeled black leather boots, and her mask resembled the blindfold that her Shadow had worn just minutes before, but now with holes cut in it for her eyes. Above her rose Maid Marian, dressed in light blue and with a matching veil over her hair, though hints of burnished copper, just like her summoner, could still be seen. In Maid Marian's hands there was a large bow, which she now aimed at Momus, and a quiver of arrows was slung over her back.
"What? You little brat!" Mao snarled, losing his composure.
Maid Marian fired three times in quick succession, staggering Momus and leaving Mao momentarily defenseless as his damaged Persona dissipated.
Lelouch didn't hesistate. "Launch an all-out attack! Now!"
"With pleasure!" Kallen and Milly cried, joining the other Black Knights as they pummeled Mao into submission.
"Ugh…" Mao groaned, bloodied and bruised all over. It seemed several of his bones had been broken. Shirley stood over him, a sword drawn and pointed at his throat, though her hands were trembling.
"How can you have so much potential?" Mao snarled. A moment later, seeing that he was still alive, his expression changed to a malicious smirk. "What's the matter? Can't do it, Miss Shirley Fenette?"
It would be so easy. With just a word from him, Shirley would kill Mao, and Medjed's menace would be finished forever.
It would be the pragmatic decision.
But even after everything, he wasn't going to ask Shirley to become a killer.
"You relied so much on using other people's Shadows to do your dirty work, you barely learned to fight with your own Persona," Lelouch sneered. "You're not worth wasting our time on. Let's go."
"Don't think this is over!" Mao called behind them. "You pay for this, Shirley and Lelouch! This ship will still be your grave!"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, right," Lelouch said. He retrieved the calling card from within his coat and handed it to Shirley. "This is for you."
"To Shirley Fenette," she read, "the great sinner of Lust. To save you from yourself, we will steal your heart and take your distorted desires without fail. Signed, The Black Knights." It was admittedly a less elaborate calling card, but it did the trick, for something materialized on the altar… a box filled with portraits of Shirley and Lelouch enjoying happy times together at Ashford Academy.
"So her Treasure was her memories of Lelouch after all," Euphemia whispered.
"You're not going to…" Kallen started.
Lelouch hesitated. It would be a simple matter to destroy Shirley's Treasure, incinerating the portraits with Agilao. That would eliminate the source of Shirley's distorted desires as certainly as stealing the Treasure. The Black Knights might object, but they wouldn't be able to stop him in time. Without her memories, she would forget all about his involvement in the Black Knights. It would keep her safe, but….
It meant that he would lose her…
Could he really…
Shirley placed her gloved hand over Lelouch's.
"It's okay, Lulu." She smiled. "You've already stolen my heart."
Shirley's Treasure would remain untouched. At least, not by his hands.
It was probably a bad idea to leave her Treasure where it was. Incapacitated as Mao currently was, if he could manage enough to limp over to the altar or muster the strength to summon Momus one last time, he would be able to destroy Shirley's Treasure itself, with all of the consequences that would bring. Lelouch knew that if he was to physically remove Shirley's Treasure from her Palace himself, it would enact a change of heart upon her, one that was no longer necessary, now that Shirley had changed her own heart with their help. But what would happen if the Palace Ruler herself took her own Treasure? Would that still count as stealing it, or would it not, because it would always remain in her possession?
The Palace would begin to collapse, that much was for certain; as the primary source of the Distortion in a Palace, a Treasure could not simply be removed from its place without rapidly destabilizing it, no matter who took the Treasure. But whether or not Shirley carried her Treasure with her into the real world, or simply moved it elsewhere in her Palace, the key thing was bringing it somewhere that Mao couldn't reach.
"You should take your Treasure with you," he told her softly. "It's not safe to leave it here with him."
Nodding, she turned, and picked up the box of memories from its place on the altar. At once, there was the ominous groaning sound of creaking wood, which caused Shirley to look around in concern.
"We're going to have to move quickly," he told her. "Just stay with us, and everything will be alright. We'll be back in the real world soon."
She nodded, and her eyes were filled with trust and resolve.
Of course, Mao would die if he was caught in the collapsing Palace, but Shirley didn't need to know that right now, and while the others were aware of that fact, they weren't about to risk themselves to save the man who had just tried to get all of them killed.
xXx
The Black Knights, plus Shirley, began to work their way out of the Palace. The Shadows seemed less coordinated, as if they were confused by the sudden disappearance of their ruler, a small blessing, as they didn't have time to waste fighting Shadows when the Palace had begun to collapse around them. The groaning sounds were growing worse by the moment, with beams of wood starting to break away and fall from above, while the seas were roiling around them, making their passage from one wreck to the next all the more perilous.
Still, they had almost reached the Student Council room door...
"Momus! Maeiga!" Mao's voice suddenly shouted out from behind them. The Black Knights took cover as Mao's curse rocked the wreck they were on, threatening to capsize it. Impossibly, he had followed them all the way from the chapel and was on his feet, seemingly driven on by nothing but hate.
"Stop it!" Shirley shouted.
Mao laughed. "Why? I have you at my mercy!" He clapped slowly, though it clearly pained him to do so. "But I'm not feeling merciful, especially after you and your friends just tried leaving me for dead." His face contorted in an expression of self-righteous anger. "So, any last words?"
Shirley's eyes widened. "Look out!" She suddenly cried out in alarm, and urgently pointed past Mao. "Behind you!"
"As if I'd fall for-"
A Shadow had come up behind Mao, a Pisaca specifically. It grabbed him with its long arms and started trying to pull him into its hideous maw.
"What! Unhand me!" Mao shouted. "I am Medjed! I shall smite you! Momus!" Furiously, Momus fired a spell at the Pisaca, but to no effect, other than causing the wreck they were on to pitch violently. Cursing, Mao resorted to fistcuffs, and tried to throw the Pisaca off of him, only for both to plunge into the icy waters below.
Shirley gasped. "Is he?"
"What you did was noble," Leila said gravely.
"But better him than us," Lelouch finished. "Let's go."
xXx
At last, they left the Palace behind them, and returned to the real world. At once, Shirley slumped, the adrenaline of her awakening and escape wearing off.
"I feel tired…" she said. "Lulu, I think I'm going to…"
She collapsed limply in his arms.
"Shirley!" Frantically, he checked her vitals. She was still breathing, but she seemed weak.
"Quick! Someone! Call an ambulance!"
A/N:
This chapter is an extended homage to Persona 4, much as the fourth Palace of Persona 5 was.
Shirley's Shadow transforms into an Angel because when the Mermaid dies in Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid, she becomes a Spirit of the Air. SMT's angel frequently uses wind spells, and moreover, is associated with the Grigori, who were said to be punished for committing sins of lust with the humans they were supposed to watch over. Shirley also gets plenty of angelic imagery associated with her in canon, and the blindfold represents her willful blindness to the truth of her society, or at least her unwillingness to act on it at first.
The actual fight went somewhat differently than I originally envisioned, but I'm still satisfied with how it turned out in the process of writing it.
Shirley's thief outfit is based on Kasumi Yoshizawa's from Persona 5 Royal. Kasumi and Shirley are both athletes, and it is suggested that Kasumi highly admires Joker, to the point where she based her image of rebellion off of him. Likewise, Shirley based her image of a rebel off Lelouch, and so her thief costume borrows elements of his own outfit (which is the same as Joker's in P5), so naturally Shirley's thief outfit would be very similar to Kasumi's. I was originally planning to make Shirley pure support, like Futaba, but I realized that she actually has more potential physical talent than most of the other party members (save Kallen) at the moment, so her actual role will be more hybridized in battle. That said, she will still get some powerful buff skills.
Maid Marian is intended to reflect Shirley's perception of a thief as "one who protects the weak", being the love interest of a thief best known for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.
Don't expect another chapter for at least a week or two; things are going to be busy. I only got this one done so fast since I was really looking forward to the fight with Shadow Shirley.
Edit: Slightly extended Shirley's speech where she accepts her Shadow, to better connect some ideas together.
Edit 2: Thanks to the reviewer who pointed out the plot hole that Shirley's Treasure can't just be left nearby Mao. I have since expanded the relevant section to address that point.