I own nothing. Monika does.
Sayori was freaking out.
In the second it had taken the Nav to transport them to the desert they were in, Sayori had fallen to her knees and was currently kneeling over in the sand. Her whole body trembled as the images from just moments before replayed themselves over and over in her mind.
WHAT?! WHAT WAS THAT?! Just what the heck was that?! Sayori sniffled as she desperately tried to get a hold of her bearings. Already she could feel the concerned gazes of her friends falling over her as she lay on the sand. Morgana, who was shortest, and thus closest to her in her huddled position, tapped her on the head in a vain attempt to help steady her nerves.
"That ain't gonna help anything, Morgana," Ryuji could be heard, and Morgana stopped and began grumbling under his breath.
"Sayori? Are you okay?" Ann tried asking. "We know the keywords. Maybe we should head back for today," the model quietly suggested to Akira, who pondered the request.
"No!" Sayori somehow found the strength to leap up, waving her hands in the air. "No… We came here to help Futaba. I'm fine. Maybe the Nav just makes me seasick or something," the pink-haired girl smoothed down her sandy, rumpled clothes, avoiding the thieves suspicious glares.
"The Nav has never made any of us feel sick," Makoto said, her tone stern, her frown even moreso. "And before today, it's never had an effect on you either, Sayori."
"There's a first time for everything," Sayori defended, before taking a moment to look at the desert around her. "Besides, we have a time limit. We should at least try to make some progress today."
The others faltered in their stern glares, reminded of why they were here. Akira was the first to speak. "We'll continue on, but only if you're sure you're alright. We don't want you to faint or something if we get into a fight with Shadows."
"It won't happen again," Sayori assured, not really convinced of that herself. "We're in our regular clothes right now, anyway, so I only want to get as far as finding a good starting point. I'm alright with leaving at the first sign of danger if it comes to that."
No one was comforted by her claim, but they also knew they had a job to do at the moment. Looking around, they soon saw something shiny in the distance. It must be the tomb!
Without further delay, Morgana transformed into his bus form, and the thieves quickly began to pile into the black vehicle, optimistic at the promise of an AC. Sayori was the last one to enter, finally able to contemplate what she had seen minutes ago with a calm mind. She took a seat in the very back, away from the others as an unsettling thought suddenly struck her.
Her hand went to her neck, memories of the injuries she had sported when she had first come to this place all those months ago shooting to the forefront of her mind.
Could those images in her mind be the things she had forgotten?
All this time, could it have been that the missing memories that Goro was sure would solve the case be of her own self-inflicted death?
It only took a few quiet minutes of pondering for Sayori to begin ignoring these thoughts. They had come here with the purpose of helping someone, and that someone wasn't her. It was Futaba. Besides, it was Goro who she needed to tell, not the Phantom Thieves.
So just for now, Sayori decided that she would stop caring. She had bigger things to worry about, like the possibility of disappearing when her teammates needed her the most. As far as she could glean, what was happening to her was completely out of her control, so she could only hope that they didn't run into too many obstacles as they got closer to their destination.
Sayori was full of anticipation, but also worry, at the thought of what they might find in such a palace. She tapped her fingers on the dashboard for a few seconds, only to wonder if that was irritating Morgana.
Actually, now that she thought about it… Maybe it tickled? These were some of the idle thoughts that trickled into Sayori's mind as the featureless desert continued on around them. She leaned her head back against the seat and attempted to rest, but the stuffy air in the bus-turned-cat made it apparent immediately that it was a lost cause. Still, Sayori stayed in that position, wanting to at least make a worthy attempt.
It can't be too long until we arrive now… Right? Sayori, tiring of the cramp in the back of her neck, leaned her head forward to look out the front. The audible crack that resulted from this caused the girl to cringe. The noise also seemed to alert Makoto and Ann, who both stared at her helplessly.
"We're out of water," Ann mumbled despairingly. "I wish there was a better way to… to pack ahead for these things."
Makoto could only release a tired sigh, currently trying and failing to adjust her headband in an effort to keep her sweat-matted bangs out of her face. Sayori felt herself sweat even more. However, this time it was because she was nervous, noticing Makoto somehow managing to steer with her knees in order to rearrange her hair. On Sayori's other side, Ann was currently trying to air out her shirt.
Sayori, in her infinite wisdom, decided this was the perfect moment to bend down in order to roll down her socks, which were beginning to irritate her skin.
"How're the guys…?" Makoto could be heard asking from above. Sayori could hear Ann moan in confusion, probably about to check.
Sayori's head jerked up and slammed into the dashboard as Ann began to angrily shout. Morgana seemed to recoil, judging by the next few seconds of chaos that had the bus swerving this way and that.
When Sayori finally managed to regain her bearings, she quickly sat back up, rubbing at the bruised spot on her head with a wince. Ryuji, Akira, and Yusuke had all been knocked to the very back of the vehicle, and for whatever reason, Ann had a wrathful glare pointed directly at them.
Sayori pursed her lips, wanting to ask what had happened, but ultimately deciding against it. Besides…
"Is that it?" Yusuke asked, all of them suddenly at attention. Sayori straightened out her back, a thick feeling building in the back of her throat, yet she dared not to swallow it down.
"There we go," Makoto muttered, her eyes locking with a new determination which, until now, had been dulled with the heat.
The shine from earlier was now a defined structure. Morgana sped up as they got closer and closer to the intimidating pyramid.
Only second ago, the pounding heat had been the center of everyone's attention. Now, there was something much heavier in the air, suffocating them all with question after question. It was different among each of the thieves, but there was one common inquiry that entered their minds in one form or another…
What would they find there?
The group inspected the front of the pyramid as best they could under the suffocating heat. The heat, of course, was the most common complaint, and Sayori couldn't help but feel exasperated by it as well. Still, she didn't appreciate the animosity that was making itself present because of it.
Morgana and Ryuji always seemed to be at each other's throats, and everyone had been advising her that it was pointless to try to solve anything, but the pounding sun on their backs was making everyone, Sayori especially, incredibly impatient.
"The AC ain't workin' at all! The hell was that lukewarm air about!?" Ryuji glared bitterly at Morgana, who immediately became defensive.
"That was the best I could do, so quit your yapping!" the black not-a-cat responded, hopping angrily in place.
"For real, you are so half-assed!"
"What was that!? You wanna fight, punk!?"
"Cut it out, you guys," Sayori tried to yell, though it sounded more like a whine. "I hate it when people fight, and none of us need to be on bad terms when we have stuff we need to do here!" She rubbed the bridge of her nose, sensing a headache beginning to form.
Though clearly still bitter towards one another, the two decided to quickly back off, rather than face Sayori when she was upset. This itself was bad enough, as Sayori had a nasty habit of making puppy-dog eyes that seemed to have the power to make anyone with common sense and a conscience get on their knees and beg for forgiveness. Yet recently, it held the added risk of incurring the wrath of any and every person nearby that Sayori held favor with.
"To think her palace would be a pyramid…" Makoto mused, turning to look at the large structure. Everyone else followed suit.
"Hey, a pyramid a tomb, right?" Ryuji wondered aloud.
"Yes. It's a pharaoh's tomb." Yusuke confirmed, examining the tomb closely. It was evident that he was looking at it with a painter's eye. Sayori wondered if anything would come of it.
"That's how it's mostly known. There are a variety of theories on it," Makoto began to explain. "For instance, it's even said to be a device for reviving the dead."
"If that's true, do you think there could be…" Sayori began hesitantly, not really liking the morbid train of thought she was on. She rubbed her neck nervously.
"Could be what?" Akira asked. All of the Phantom Thieves were curious, turning to the pink haired girl with questioning looks.
"It's kind of stupid now that I think harder about it… But this palace was formed because Futaba blames herself for her mother's death, right?" Sayori pondered, noting with a bleak expression that some of the Phantom Thieves were seeing where she was going. Unable to keep the worst scenario she could possibly think of out of her head, after all these facts, and especially after those things she had seen earlier, Sayori decided to get the idea off her chest.
"Do you think there could be… corpses or something in there?"
"Hm… Probably not," Morgana thought aloud. "I imagine anything in there will be alive… alive and ready to try to stop us."
"Well, if that is so, than I will say," Yusuke began, looking at the pyramid, confirming everyone's suspicions about his train of thought, "It's beautiful nonetheless… It's perfectly conformed to the golden ratio…"
"Hey, guys, can we go in already?" Ryuji moaned. "I'm gonna melt…"
Everybody easily agreed to that sentiment, and they all began heading up the stairs and into the tomb.
Thank goodness… I think I'd die if it were as hot in here as it was outside.
Everyone was ecstatic that the pyramid itself wouldn't bake them like an oven, and they easily began to run through the palace. The place had many walls, meaning that their only current option was to take the stairs in front of them. They seemed to lead into the heart of the pyramid, and with Morgana's increased eagerness, Makoto quickly hypothesized that the treasure would be at this heart.
This put Sayori on edge… after all, as a game, this was supposed to present them with a challenge that must be defeated. If things seemed this easy now, Sayori fully expected that things were about to go downhill fast. Not to mention, despite the refreshing cool air, the palace itself was riddled with an oppressive energy that set everyone on edge.
They continued to move, the less athletic members of the group quickly developing a fear that running up the stone steps would cause them to trip and die. They could only hope that they wouldn't have to battle any enemies on the stairs. Afterall, nobody thought that splitting their heads open on the stairs was the ideal way to die while infiltrating a palace.
Sayori was so busy watching where she was going, that she didn't notice the new figure in front of them until Morgana called them out. It made sense, as the oppressive energy seemed a bit stronger, yet at the same time, still not what Sayori thought was the strongest it could be.
"Hm? There's someone there!" Morgana exclaimed. The group quickly approached the fancily dressed girl.
"Hey, is this…?" Ryuji trailed off, studying the girl, who was dressed in a simple white fabric skirt, top, and wraps hanging from her arms, yet bedecked in enough jewelry to please a sultan.
"That's Futaba's Shadow. It isn't the real her." Morgana explained.
Sayori cocked her head to the side as everyone talked amongst themselves for a few seconds, noting the rigid way the Shadow simply stood there. It was unnerving that she seemed so good at ignoring them. Sayori could have mistaken her for a very life-like statue, had it not been for the way Shadow Futaba caught her gaze. As Sayori tilted her head to the other side, the ginger-haired girl's eyes followed her, seeming to move like the Mona Lisa.
"So you're Futaba Sakura," Makoto addressed the Shadow gently. This caused her to finally respond, though only her lips moved, releasing a gentle sigh.
"Hey, where's the Treasure?" Ryuji questioned, walking up to Shadow Futaba.
"It's doubtful that you wouldn't know where it is," Makoto added knowingly.
"Hey, say something," Ryuji was about to wave a hand in front of the girl's face, only for Ann to quickly scold him.
Ann quickly walked up to the Shadow, intending to mend any tension. "I'm sorry, Futaba-chan. It's OK, there's no need to be scared."
"Yeah," Sayori added with a big smile, breaking the staring contest she had been preoccupied with. "We're here to help you, just like you asked. With that in mind, could you maybe consider pointing us in the direction of what's causing you so much distress." Before I step on a floor tile trap or something cliche and we totally all get murdered… I don't like this feeling I'm getting at all…
After a moment of silence from the shadow, everyone was beginning to think the Shadow was incapable of speech. "This is going nowhere," Yusuke couldn't help but mutter.
Ryuji turned his attention away from Shadow Futaba completely, instead facing the Phantom Thieves. "Let's just leave her," he proposed.
Ann was rather irked at this. "Will you guys shut up for a bit!?"
The lack of attention on her seemed to spur the Shadow into action, for now she finally spoke.
"Those who plunder my tomb. Why have you come?"
Sayori felt a shiver run down her spine at the evident hostility in the Shadow's voice. Don't like this feeling… I don't like it at all.
"What're you sayin'? You want us to steal it, right?" Ryuji questioned, tilting his head to the side.
"If you believe you can steal it, then try as you might."
"That's rather defiant sounding," Morgana observed with a frown.
"Fu… Futaba-chan?" Sayori whispered, finally taking her turn to step towards the Shadow. She reached out to the girl, originally aiming to perhaps take the girl's hands in her own, or maybe even give her a hug. But she recoiled, thinking better of it, and decided that using her words might be best for now. "We… You and I are friends… Maybe? You texted me, didn't you? There's no reason to get hostile with us."
Considering the state my Palace is in… There is no way that you can steal it." Shadow Futaba spoke as if Sayori hadn't.
It was then that something unexpected happened. Voices echoed loudly off the walls, strange and unfamiliar… All saying terrible things.
Creepy child…
You killed her!
You're a plague!
"What are these voices?" Yusuke questioned, grimacing.
Sayori backed away from the Shadow, attempting to give the girl space as she kneeled and recoiled, gripping the sides of her head with both hands.
Murderer!
Why don't you say something!?
"Murderer…?" Makoto trailed off.
You're the one who killed her!
This is all your fault!
The voices began to bleed and mesh, alarming everyone even further.
"This is horrible…" Ann said quietly.
"Hey, the hell is this?" Ryuji asked, obviously freaked out.
The voices continued, and Shadow Futaba finally stood up, though now she resembled a faded out ghost. "That's right, I did it."
"I am the one who killed my mother."
At those words, the entire Palace trembled, and something that sounded like a wail and a roar echoed down the hall. Everyone looked around in alarm.
"What was that!?" Ann yelled.
"My mother exists here." At those words, Shadow Futaba raised her arms and floated up, fading into nothingness.
"I will remain here. I will do so until I die."
The Phantom Thieves clothes were suddenly transformed into their Thief outfits, alarming everyone further.
"Our clothes…!?"
"She sees us as a threat now… What's going on!?"
Another rumble shook the palace, causing everyone to stumble. Yet this time it didn't stop, feeling as if an earthquake was making its way toward them. Before anyone had a chance to question what was going on, a giant, round boulder fell from the ceiling and began rolling towards them.
"Oh crap…! Bad, bad, bad! Run!" Morgana shouted, quite panicked as he bounced around. Nobody argued, instead choosing to barrel towards the entrance to the tomb.
Nobody noticed until it was nearly too late that Sayori hadn't moved a muscle since those awful voices had ceased, a look of pure shock and worry contorting her features, her eyes blurry and unfocused as she stared at her shoes.
"Sayori! You need to move!" Ann screamed, grabbing the girl roughly by the arm and dragging her forward. That progress proved to be slow, Sayori still seeming to be stuck in her own trance.
Ryuji grumbled, flinging the girl over his shoulder and pounding down the stairs.
After a perilous descent down the stairs, the thieves finally made it through the entrance. Diving to the side, they just barely managed to avoid getting crushed by the giant boulder. The pyramid's entrance sealed shut behind them.
"We're safe… That was too close…" Makoto sighed in relief as she glanced at the now destroyed pillars that had once been outside the entrance.
"Sayori!" Ryuji shouted, waving a hand in front of the pink haired girl's face. Sayori blinked, finally beginning to exit her stupor, yet the fragile look on her face told her no one was going to like the result of the scolding that was about to occur.
"I get that this shit probably messes with you a lot! But you can't just stand still when we need all hands on deck!" The blond screamed, slamming a gloved palm to his forehead.
"I…" Sayori began, trying not to let the bite in the words cut her too deep. However, before she could get two words out, she could already feel her lips beginning to quiver. Before Ryuji could notice this and apologize, she bowed her head meekly. "I'm sorry, for endangering us all… I think it's safe to say that I… we are in no condition to continue moving forward. So…"
Sayori bit her lip, hoping to mask the quiver in her words. "Please take us home now… I would like to go home."
With no other way to progress for the day, the other Phantom Thieves quickly agreed. For today, the Phantom Thieves were making a tactical retreat back home.
Futaba sat alone in her room. As always, her attention was on the screen in front of her. She was typing furiously, the incident that had occured only a few hours prior had attracted her attention.
Afterall, that post had probably been made months ago…
Futaba, obviously, was very intent on finding out what she could about Sayori Matsu.
It could almost be considered random, what happened next. The ginger-haired girl suddenly stopped typing, pushed up her glasses, and looked nervously around the room. Suddenly, Futba a cringed.
Tucking her knees into her chest, the girl couldn't help the whimper that escaped her.
"This… again…"
She could hear the voices.
She could feel her mother's hateful gaze on her back, and she dared not turn around to meet her eyes. She didn't deserve to.
She didn't deserve to live.
"No… Please. Someone help me," she begged quietly.
Sayori was obviously up to something with the Phantom Thieves.
These were Goro's main thoughts as he grumpily went about his apartment, cleaning the place up as best as he could with the limited cleaning supplies he had. However, with his frustrated mindset, he was probably doing more harm than good.
After what seemed like hours of contemplating what the Phantom Thieves could possibly be doing to defeat the Medjed posers, the detective realized with a sigh that perhaps he was scrubbing the walls a bit too hard. Afterall, when one was cleaning, it was normally not a goal to scrub something so much that the paint started coming off.
I should probably find something to cover this up… he thought, musing over the large scar on the cream colored walls. The apartment had come with the walls already this color, so he couldn't just paint over it, since he didn't know the exact shade.
Maybe he had a picture or something he could place over it?
With nothing else better to do, Goro retreated into his room in hopes of raiding his desk for something appropriate to cover the wall with. It would have been an excellent distraction, if not for the fact that he would have to sort through different files and documents that only reminded him of why he currently felt like jumping off of a bridge.
There's that file that Sae let me borrow. She probably needs it back by now… With that in mind, Goro quickly took it out of the drawer and placed it on his desk, intending to give it to Sae when he saw her next at work. He continued sorting through different papers, coming across several which he quickly crammed into the very bottom of the drawers.
The very few pieces of research on cognitive psience he had were worthless to him now. He was only allowed to see the ones that allowed him to do the tasks Shido gave him. Perhaps, instead of hiding them, he should just get rid of them. But how exactly could he do that? For whatever reason, the people who had mailed it to him under a veil of anonymity refused to take them back.
He made a mental note to just get some matches and burn the cursed sheets later, and began sorting through another drawer. He had completely abandoned the idea of finding anything suitable to hang on the wall in the previous one. All this experience had done him was awaken him to the fact that he really needed to reorganize this desk, and also get a lock for it, for the more confident pieces of information.
Rifling through the next drawer was also a rather worthless experience. Just some old records of previous homes he had once been forced into, a few early report cards that foster parents had never cared enough to sign, and a copy of the lease for his apartment. Nothing appropriate to pin to the wall.
He sighed and prepared to slam the drawer shut, only to spot the corner of a vastly different piece of paper near the bottom.
The once vibrant pink paper was now faded and wrinkled with age, and Goro found himself holding his breath as he delicately pulled it out of the drawer, afraid of making the slightest tear. He couldn't believe how easy it was to forget he had this…
I'm so horrible to forget this. Wasn't it her favorite?
He forced himself to remain calm as he silently read the words over and over. The original Chinese, he remembered, had been too difficult for him to read, so right above was a messy translation carefully written down in Japanese. He brought one finger and traced the written words, noting with a frown that the ink was fading.
He couldn't have that now… It was valuable evidence. It was proof that he, at one point, had someone who truly cared about him… and even wanted the best for him…
As soon as those thoughts entered his head, Goro immediately felt guilty. He reopened the drawer to slip the paper back inside and forget this had ever happened, when he heard the door gently creak open.
Sayori slipped her head through the doorway, looked around the room quickly, and stepped the rest of the way inside, quietly shutting the door behind her.
Was she hoping he wasn't there?
Goro continued to observe from his kneeling position on his bedroom floor as Sayori inched her way towards the couch, her entire body seeming stiff. She hadn't noticed him yet, judging by how she now sat with a slump and a heavy sigh.
The detective was beginning to feel hurt by the girl's actions. Did she really not hope he was there!? His eyes narrowed and his frown deepened. He quietly began to rise from his crouching position, intending to startle the girl and cheerfully question her demeanor. That would make her guilty! Would serve her right when he had just been mentally defending her-
The entirety of his being did a one-eighty as she put her hands to her face and a loud sob tore itself out of her throat.
Completely abandoning any plan he had once held, the detective gripped the paper in his hand even tighter, stood up completely, and crossed the floor to Sayori in only four strides. It would have been three… had he not controlled himself in time and refrained from vaulting over the rocking chair which had previously been blocking her view of him.
"Sayori!" The detective shouted, causing the weeping girl to jump slightly. "What's wrong!?"
"Wha…?" Sayori's head whipped from side to side, wondering where the detective had come from. "Goro! You startled me!" She turned back in his direction to whine, only to find that in the two seconds she had been looking away from him, he was now as close as he could be to her, without having their noses touch.
"What's wrong?" He asked again.
Sayori looked away from his stubborn gaze, attempting to smile. "It's… It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, Goro. I've just been… having a rough day. That's all."
"Something tells me that you're lying, Sayori," Goro observed, hand on his chin. "I don't mean to interrogate you or anything, but if you don't tell me what's distressing you… Well…"
The confident smirk he sent her gave Sayori instant paranoia. She looked at him with wide eyes, trying to figure out what was on the detective's inquisitive mind.
"Do you mean… no…"
"That's right," Goro confirmed with a nod. "No dates, and no cuddling either until you tell me what's bothering you."
Sayori gasped in heartbreak. "But that would mean you wouldn't get any either!" She tried to object, before sniffling a bit. "Wow… You really must care…" Sayori internally debated with herself, deciding that maybe, just as long as she didn't go into too much detail, it was alright to tell the detective some things.
Besides, maybe he had advice she could use.
"Well… it's just that recently… I made a new friend. My other friends and I have been trying to help her with something that… is making her really, really miserable and sad." Sayori could have laughed at herself for that understatement. "...Today, I found out that everything is much worse than I originally thought."
Sayori had known about the illusions Futaba was having, and about her blaming herself for her mother's death. But knowing now that she viewed her own home as a tomb, made everything about today's journey to the Palace feel like a harsh slap to the face.
"How much worse?" Goro questioned gently, motioning for her to continue.
"Well… I'm sorry… I just don't feel right telling you that much," Sayori shook her head sadly. "It would be a breach of her privacy to tell you that, I think." She sighed and slumped against the couch.
"Well, maybe instead you could tell me about that something that's causing her so much misery," The detective questioned.
Upon receiving Sayori's slight glare, he made the wise decision to backtrack a little. "Of course, if you don't feel that it would be right to do so, then it's alright. However, you can also describe it as vaguely as you want. I promise I won't pry any further… I just want to help you as best as I can."
Sayori rubbed the back of her head nervously and sighed. "Fine. It's just that, she blames herself for this really bad thing that happened to someone close to her. It's causing her a lot of difficulty throughout the day, which is a problem, because we need her help for something really important right now… So we're trying to help her as quickly as possible."
"But after today, you don't have as much confidence as you used to that you can help as quickly as you wished?" The detective pondered aloud, before realizing with a start what he had said. "I apologize! I was just pondering, not trying to pry or anything." He waved his hands in a rapid gesture of dismissal, and Sayori couldn't help but chuckle.
"No… It's okay. That was basically right on the money…" Sayori sighed and seemed to be attempting to just melt into the couch. "Besides, you said you wanted to help. Knowing what I'm going through is needed if you want to do that… And, it's not just that… I just, felt that I related to her on some level when we met up today."
"In a bad way?"
Sayori nodded. "I get the feeling that in some way, even you could probably relate to her." Now it was her turn to look startled. "Ah! Wait! No! Forget I said anything!"
"I didn't even mean to do that," the detective chuckled to himself, knowing he had just found a crack in Sayori's wall of ever-growing secrets. He decided he might as well try to break that crack down just a bit further.
"How do you think I could relate to her?" He questioned, remembering to sound gentle, and not too eager. "I know this counts as prying… but if this concerns me in any way, I think it's alright to make an exception to my promise, don't you?"
"No," Sayori said, a deadpan expression on her face. "I have nothing else to say. Give me your advice now, please. Otherwise, I'm going to bed…"
The detective put a hand to his chin in contemplation, before a wide smile spread across his face, a devious light forming in his eyes. "Well, if you won't say anymore, I suppose I'll have to analyze this, won't I?"
"Let's see what I know so far… I believe the most important things from what you said are that you and I can both relate to her." Goro looked to see Sayori remaining stubbornly silent. "You're neither confirming or denying it, hm? I'll take that as confirmation then. So I believe the next important statements involve the fact that this unnamed girl blames herself for something bad happening to another, and the severity of how much she blames herself."
Sayori couldn't help but cringe, further digging her own grave at this point. The detective smiled kindly, giving her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, which she grumpily swatted away.
"I believe with this, I can put together a vague picture. I am linking you to the severity, and myself to the fact that… Wait… Wait!"
Sayori let a smile grace her features this time. "I already thought so before, but now you've confirmed it… So Goro, can I ask you once more about your mother?"
The way she said that lead to several conclusions piecing themselves together in the detective's head. He said nothing of them, though now he had a much clearer vision of what Sayori and her group of Phantom Thieves were up to. And because of the earlier experience in the subway, he could definitely confirm who the Thieves were as well…
With this knowledge, he decided it would only be fair to give Sayori what she wanted. "What do you want to ask about her?"
"Well… I don't remember my own," she said thoughtfully, I'm not even sure I have one, "and I just want to ask… How exactly do you cope with her death, especially since you basically just confirmed that you also… blame yourself. I mean, you gave yourself a very hard time when we first talked about her… I guess I didn't want to think about it like that at first." She was beginning to ramble and she knew it, so she decided to close her mouth and let the detective think about her question.
It was laughable to think that he coped very well. Afterall, any therapist would probably say that plotting your revenge was an incredibly unhealthy way to spend one's time. Still, Sayori did deserve a reasonable explanation… Something to make what she was about to do a bit less taxing.
He finally remembered the paper he had clutched in his hand, and it gave him an idea he hoped would work. He uncurled his hand and showed it to Sayori, who inspected it curiously.
"My favorite songs that my mother sang were always about rain, but this was her favorite thing to perform. It's more of a poem than a song, though. But you like poems, so maybe this could provide you with a totem of some sort." Goro extended his hand further, and Sayori hesitantly took it.
"Thank you, but I don't know if I can take it if it's important to you…" Sayori absorbed the words of the poem carefully even as she spoke. She tasted the words on her tongue and couldn't help the hope and confidence that was beginning to build inside of her. It had been too long since she had read a poem belonging to someone else.
"It's fine… I remember that my mother always compared me to the protagonist of the poem. I suppose the part of both of us being born into loneliness is accurate, but that's always been where the similarities between us ended."
"I think your mother had a point…" Sayori trailed off, before hugging the poem to her chest in gratitude. "Though if you don't want it anymore, perhaps I could give it to F- my friend when this is all over? I get the feeling she might appreciate it.
Goro almost objected, before sighing to himself. "I think that it would be alright. I already have the poem memorized, and things as beautiful as it are meant to be shared…"
The kiss on his cheek he received made his entire face turn a light pink. He supposed that was Sayori's way of showing him gratitude for successfully helping her feel better.
However, the information he had gained was more than enough to thank him.
They met in Akira's room at Leblanc the next day. They were definitely going into that palace today, and so after checking that Sojiro wasn't there to hear them, the group immediately began discussing what they would be doing.
Sayori did her best to concentrate on the topics being discussed. Afterall, as Ann had pointed out the day before, her and Futaba were similar, in the fact that neither of them were considered to be evil, but they still had palaces. Sayori probably wouldn't be able to provide too much valuable input, but she still wanted to do her best to contribute.
However, there was something else on the girl's mind, or rather, the absence of something. It made Sayori constantly on edge, looking at her hands nervously, constantly anticipating the worst.
But it hadn't been since earlier the previous day that the girl had disappeared. It didn't make any sense. With the time limit she had previously established, she should have disappeared at least once while in the Mona Car!
She could only be hopeful that those episodes of disappearing had passed for good…
"Sayori, what do you think?" Akira asked.
Sayori let a small smile grace her features. "I wasn't as confident after what happened yesterday, but today I'm feeling good about things…" That was one semi-successful attempt at lightening the mood. Her smile was contagious, it seemed.
"Though I would like to not be tripped up by another earthquake, please and thank you," Sayori looked around the room, wondering if Futaba could hear them from that room.
"Yes, I am sure there is some mental reasoning behind it, but constantly getting shaken around makes it harder to take in the view," Yusuke replied idly. Everyone rolled their eyes, yet smiles still graced their lips.
"If that's all we have to say, we should get going," Akira announced, bringing up the MetaNav on his phone.
Everyone gave a single, solitary nod of agreement. With one click of a button, the "real" world faded away.
Sayori was glad to not be shaken up by any more visions. It made exploring the distorted region of Futaba's heart that much easier to concentrate on.
For now though, as they reinvestigated the main entrance, searching for a way past the gated off area, Sayori had easily agreed to hanging back on the sidelines, trailing behind while Joker lead three of the others farther ahead.
After several minutes of the walls, running up and down the stairs over and over again, double checking to see if there were any turns they had missed, and pushing against randow sections of walls to see if there were any secret passages, the group finally gave up on that approach.
It was only as they were preparing to leave to investigate the small desert town they had seen earlier, that they finally gained a lead.
"Are you leaving?"
Everyone turned to see Shadow Futaba at the bottom of the staircase they had just climbed.
"Come back here. Let's talk for a moment."
The group complied, runnin down to meet the Shadow that, despite seeing them as threats, didn't seem very hostile towards them at the moment. Upon reaching them, the ginger-haired girl offered them a deal.
After a few brief exchanges, the Phantom Thieves finally had an idea on what to do next. All they had to do to obtain the information was chase down a grave robbing bandit in the desert town and steal something back from it.
Running around a hot desert town in tight black clothes… Hm…
As they were leaving the tomb, Skull looked over at the pink-haired thief and did a double take. "Valiant!? Did you bring a freakin' sunhat with you?"
"Yes…"
"Where did ya even put it!?"
"That's not important… What is important is that I brought enough for anyone else who wants it!" Valiant replied with a smile as Mona turned into his bus from behind them. She pulled out a large stack of sun hats from behind her shield, looking like the unholy combination of a flower girl and a magician as she did so. "I have this really cute one with a white skullete over a black bow…"
"No thanks…" Skull grumbled. "I have more pride than that!"
"You know you want to…"
"No!"
"Give that damn hat to me right now!"
Valiant giggled as she ran up to Skull's side and tossed him the sunhat. The blond wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled the humiliating accessory on, before picking up the pace as best as he could.
The Phantom Thieves had found the bandit they were looking for, and were now pursuing it with all they had. It was tedious work of chasing, hiding, and attempting to corner the stupid Shadow.
Eventually, they did manage to trap him in the square. And just as expected, there was no negotiating with it.
Valiant quickly took a spot in the ensuing battle against the raging golden bird. It was a feisty, quick creature. Aside from attacking them with harsh desert winds, and attempting to brainwash them, the large hostile beastie had a habit of attempting to lash out at them with its talons.
Sayori could only thank whatever higher power there was in her unreality that the Bird God didn't think to utilize its tail, as she was already having enough trouble blocking the slashes and wind with her shield.
After what seemed like forever, Sayori was finally too worn out to continue fighting. Forget mind control, the Shadow was going to beat them simply because she was too exhausted to continue fighting.
"Valiant! Good job!" Panther shouted, holding her hand out eagerly. "Let me take your spot. We're on the offensive now!"
Sayori gladly obliged, and watched with an almost creepy sense of joy as Panther unleashed a large volley of fire, and Joker shot it with his gun. From there, the battle was almost immediately won as the Thieves swarmed the Shadow and gave it all they had.
They celebrated their victory, picked up a fallen papyrus that the bandit had dropped, and headed back towards the tomb to claim their reward.
"We're back. This is the thing you said they stole, right?" Skull asked.
Shadow Futaba remained mostly motionless, save for the movement of her mouth. "Well done. It is yours now."
"Wait, what…?" Panther questioned, looking equal parts shocked and confused. "Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?"
"This is a map of the tomb, stolen by the bandit to aid in his ransacking of this place," Shadow Futaba explained, unrolling the map and handing it to Joker.
"Why are you letting them just do whatever they want?" Queen questioned. "This is your Palace, isn't it?"
"And why are you helping us? We're seen as a threat, right?" Valiant questioned. "I'm confused…" Hadn't the shadow mentioned something during one of the earthquakes yesterday? Something about…
"All that matters is that the map is now yours. Just come further in and… Oh."
The tomb rumbled. Thankfully, the Phantom Thieves had an easier time staying on their feet. Not that it mattered…
Shadow Futaba once again disappeared. Fox was investigating the ground as the girl rose off of it. Perhaps there was simply something wrong with the floor to cause this unsettling turn of-
All of the Phantom Thieves suddenly felt the air leave their lungs as gravity pressed down harshly on them.
Nobody should have been surprised when they looked up to find the floor had opened underneath them.
After a long and treacherous fall, and a laborious swim through rushing quick sand, Valiant almost didn't notice that all of her sun hats had fallen off of her person. Not that it really mattered to her at this point.
They were all exhausted. Futaba was constantly pushing them away. For every step forward they made, it felt as if she purposefully pushed them two steps back.
However, they weren't ready to give up for the day. They had to at least find their way out of the pit they had been dropped into. If they left like this, then the next time they came back, they would only end up in an even deeper rut.
The Phantom Thieves had to prove they could persevere in any situation!
Even if Futaba wanted to push them away, they would push back and give her all the help they possibly could!
With those thoughts in mind, the band of thieves began the long trek up towards the surface.
The long twisting passage up to the light filled doorway was proving to be perilous journey. At every corner, the Thieves came across a Shadow, which only further hindered their path.
Valiant's knees were beginning to cramp from crouching so much. Her breath was growing more ragged by the second. Thankfully, despite their exhaustion, Joker spared no effort in making sure each battle was easily won.
They were so close to the exit, and not once had Joker let any Shadow get the jump on them. It was admirable, how he directed each of the tired and irritable teens that followed behind him to one new corner to hide in after another. It was this effort that made all of them work harder.
Her arms ached. Valiant was sure they were about to fall off. She glanced down from the statue she was currently trying to climb and gave Fox a sheepish grin.
"My arms are jelly, Fox. Would you mind giving me a lift?"
The artist looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding with a kind smile. "Of course. Anything to help."
Sayori felt all warm and gooey inside. She considered all of the Phantom Thieves her friends, but something about the artist's bizarre nature often managed to put a smile on her face when she needed it the most. She straightened out her legs, waiting for the blue-haired thief to lift her up by them.
She yelped and nearly toppled both of them over when he wrapped his arms around her and began to hoist her up. Sayori normally didn't see anything wrong with this. Panther, on the other hand…
"Fox! What are you thinking!?" The red clad thief pried the clueless artist off of Sayori. "That's not the appropriate way to handle her, and you know it!"
"You would think they take you on enough shopping trips for Fox to gain more situational awareness," Queen muttered. "I guess not. I'll help you up, Valiant."
"Thank you, Queen," Sayori replied gratefully as Makoto lifted her by her feet and climbed up after her.
Panther was still scolding Fox as they made it up the last floor level to the shining door.
Sayori sank to her knees as soon as the hot air of the outside met her face.
"We made it out!" Skull exclaimed, as though he couldn't quite believe it. "Damn it's hot though. My ass is all sweaty."
"I don't want to hear that word ever again if I can help it," Fox muttered, sheepishly avoiding Panther's angry glare. "Please… I understand I have committed a wrongdoing. Can we please just forget about it? Valiant doesn't seem to care."
Sayori looked up from her spot on the ground, where she had happily been laying on the brick platform, content with her new role as a floor mat, and nodded in understanding. "You're fine, Fox. You just startled me…"
"You have a boyfriend!" Panther shouted incredulously.
"I'm not going to get mad at Fox for not knowing any better. Besides, after how you chewed him out, I'm willing to bet it's a one time thing…"
Fox nodded eagerly. "The important thing is that we have secured our escape route. We can finally go about exploring this place now."
"Let's use this as our entrance from here forward," Queen proposed. "It should be more stable than the front."
No one objected to that. They were all thoroughly worn out after the back and forth, as well as their near fall to their doom.
Suffice to say, that was the end of their exploration that day. The rest of the day would be spent recuperating for their next step in infiltrating the tomb.
So I definitely know who the Phantom Thieves are now. The talking cat, as well as their reaction to Medjed, confirmed it…
Goro Akechi stared at the files now laying on his desk in deep contemplation. This was the second day in a row where Sayori was once again going off on excursions to a palace. Now that summer vacation had finally started, it was useless to say she was going to the gardening club, so she was simply saying that she would be hanging out with her friends.
"With the cleanse happening in a few weeks, they must have found a plausible way to deal with Medjed. But what?"
The talk with Sayori the previous day, though informative, was causing his head to spin in confused circles. There were no members of the fake Medjed whose name starts with an F, and furthermore, why would the Phantom Thieves be trying to help an enemy cope with the death of a loved one… Much less a mother?
Perhaps rather than dealing with Medjed directly, they have found another way to do it? Or perhaps they are having someone else do it for them?
He was currently scrolling through the Phansite at a rapid pace, searching for anybody who matched the conditions Sayori had vaguely described.
It was a rather pointless effort, as the police were always monitoring it thoroughly, and had yet to find a thing like it… At least according to Sae.
The poor woman… She's helping me despite being so busy herself. Didn't she finally manage to get what she wanted in regards to the case with that cafe owner…?
The detective stopped dead in his tracks as that thought entered his mind.
Sae was investigating a man that, according to police information, was housing Akira Kurusu. This case had to do with Wakaba, who had a daughter…
Futaba Sakura… It matches up so perfectly. It's almost too coincidental to be believed.
Before he could stop himself, the detective opened up the MetaNav and entered in Futaba's name.
When the name was confirmed, the detective stared at his phone for several long minutes.
Shit… With trembling hands, he quickly shut the phone down and dropped it into a desk drawer, slamming it shut. Hands now in the form of shaking fists, Goro began to angrily beat his pillow as he flopped down on his mattress.
This is so outrageous, I think I'm about to puke! Already the detective seemed to be going into a hysterical state.
Lately, his stupid conscience was finally beginning to feel remorse and guilt for things that had happened years before… All because he had been reminded of the mother from his own past.
She really wouldn't have wanted this at all… I'm such a fool. It took housing the human equivalent of a cinnamon roll for me to realize all of this…
His mother had always compared him to the protagonist of her favorite poem. In her eyes, he was always a thing of unappreciated beauty. He was selfless, kind, and chivalrous…
In her eyes, he was the beautiful, pure thing that others beat down and ripped apart out of spite and hatred.
Reality has become so much more cruel, Mother, Akechi thought with a heave, now only able to kneel down and start sobbing. In this regard, it almost makes me happy you aren't here anymore. You won't have to bare the thought that your son is the spiteful, hateful one that rips apart what few pure things remain in this damned place.
Despite the self hatred that was crashing around inside of him… there was still that one small voice that dared to argue back.
Not all pure things have been destroyed… Not yet.
But they would be eventually. That was the penalty for being around him… for rooting for him.
Deep down, it had always been obvious that happiness and victory for him would only be the suffering and destruction of others. He wasn't meant to protect the pure things, or be one of them.
All he could do was push them away, and keep them from getting damaged by him.
And yet… despite all of these facts… The memories of kind blue eyes, and that adorable smile, always filled him with dangerous hope.
Even if it was just for a moment, Goro Akechi wanted to believe in the special few he cared about.
He wanted to hope that Sayori was right… when she said his mother had a point.
But in order to do that, he had to prove it to himself as well.
Nothing like celebrating Mother's Day late with some angst about dead moms. Am I right? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review. If you want to, I have a blog for my writing on tumblr now. I haven't gotten to do much with it, but so far I've had fun with it. Please read, review, and I'll see you all next time!