I own nothing. Monika does.
After a short time, they found a Shadow sitting behind a desk, a pane of glass separating it from the Thieves. The ticket dealer seemed rather welcoming for a Shadow, even though its haunting red eyes gazing out of an onyx abyss that made up its body would have made it look intimidating, if not for the silly uniform.
"Welcome to the members floor. We received word of your coming," the Shadow greeted, before launching into a detailed explanation of the rules of the casino. It then proceeded to give them one-thousand free coins, a map, told them where the dice and slots games were, and finally recommended that they try the dice game first.
To say the least, the Phantom Thieves felt unnerved by Sae's level of confidence in her victory. It also didn't help when the Shadow mentioned, not a second later, that they needed to get fifty-thousand coins in order to get to the next floor.
"I see… I believe I have figured out Sae-san's intent behind this," Crow said after a moment of contemplation.
"I think I want to speak to the manager…" Oracle trailed off, before pointing accusingly at the Shadow behind the counter, "And I know for a fact that you're not the manager!"
"I feel rather frustrated that the only way to proceed forward is to play that woman's games," Fox grumbled, crossing his arms. Everyone else gave a loud "aye," as Valiant worked to pull Oracle away from the Shadow dealer.
"It does us no good to mope, just like it wouldn't in the real world," Crow began, seeing the angle that Sae was playing at. "We have to obtain that card by winning coins in this casino."
"Just like she wants," Skull grunted.
"Yes, I understand that you all are frustrated, but if this is how it must be done, then I'm afraid that's the only thing we can do," Crow said, beginning to grow impatient with their complaints.
"That's absurd! I mean… 50,000 coins!?" Fox shouted, a hint of desperation in his voice.
The Shadow chuckled. "We also allow players to borrow coins if need be, up to the current total on their card."
"You," Crow pointed at the Shadow, "can shut up. We have had enough of your input." Still, he filed that information away for later.
"Owing money to a casino in someone's head… How does that work? Would Sae just suddenly start thinking that we actually owed her money?" Valiant wondered aloud.
"We intend to steal her Treasure, thus the Palace will collapse, so I imagine it won't be an issue," Crow stated, looking to Mona for support, only for the cat to look unsure himself.
"Simply standing here and thinking about these things isn't going to achieve anything," Noir suddenly spoke up. "We know what we need to do, so let's get to it!"
Queen smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. "Should we follow the Shadow's suggestion and head to the dice game rooms, then?"
"Hmm… Actually, there is something else I wish to discuss with all of you," Crow suddenly said, his thoughts once again on Sae's intent behind these games.
"Let's try to be quick," Joker agreed, giving a slight nod. The group left the Shadow and ended up in a safe room so they could discuss things in private.
"So our two options are dice and slots…" Crow began, looking rather serious as he addressed everyone. "It would not surprise me in the least if they were rigged somehow."
"You think she's cheatin'!?" Skull exclaimed, looking shocked as he considered the possibility.
"I feel like something like that should be expected in a Palace at this point," Valiant pointed out. "I mean, I know we're all counting on Sae to help us in the end, but it's not really a surprise that the Palace Ruler for a casino Palace would play dirty."
"Precisely. Remember, this is a courthouse in the real world. Sae-san is quite particular about 'winning' here. To compound that, defendants in Japan are prosecuted at a rate of 99.9%. Victory is nigh unattainable," Crow explained patiently.
"What!? How can a percentage like that really be possible? Are all those verdicts the correct ones?" Panther asked, utterly appalled by the information she had just gotten.
"Not exactly… The investigators are human too, after all," Crow replied, as if trying to calm the girl's righteous fury.
"Then…" Panther trailed off, a troubled look on her face as she thought of what that meant, both for them and for other people.
"You are not the first to point out the rigged nature of this system. The prosecution is near unbeatable," Crow explained, sounding strict to even his own ears, but he hoped that the contents of his words might be able to calm Panther down. There wasn't much the Phantom Thieves could do to change that, at least as far as he bothered to think at this point. "That's why cases of false accusation cause such a stir: They are exceedingly rare."
"But it's total bullshit gettin' arrested even when you're not guilty!" Skull shouted angrily, as if his complaining could somehow lessen the reality of his words.
The thought occurred to Valiant then that this must be true of actual reality as well. What she was hearing sounded so strange to her in a way, almost like it had been intentionally put there. She shivered at the realization that reality must have been much harder than the world she lived in. There were no Phantom Thieves, after all. At least, as far as she knew.
"Indeed, and if we do not hurry, the Phantom Thieves will fall victim to a similar fate," Crow finished, looking at everyone with urgency.
"...We're going to win this, no matter what," Queen said, her voice full of an intense determination that filled everyone with their own feelings of determination.
"Of that, I have no doubts," Crow said, happy to know that he meant it. He was relying on everyone here in so many ways, after all.
With that, the group of thieves left the safe room and went to the area marked as the dice game area. However, instead of going into any of the set aside game rooms, Joker made a beeline for the open vent at the very end of the hall. Once again, the Phantom Thieves crawled through, and ended up finding themselves in another backroom. They continued on with the intent of exposing that the games were rigged in the act, as Oracle came to the conclusion that Crow was definitely right.
Until they reached that point, however, the group simply went about business as usual. They ran through hallways, fought the average Shadow that patrolled the halls, and unlocked the chests and smashed vases as they made their way through. All the while, Crow and Valiant came away once again with no further clue of what they were looking for. They didn't really expect much, as the backroom looked the same as the last backroom they had gone into, but Valiant felt on edge after she thought she had seen something last time.
However, by the time they came across the guard that was standing vigilant over the controls for the dice game, nothing had changed. The two knew better now, though. They switched from investigation mode into battle mode almost immediately, waiting for Joker to commence the battle. Without hesitation, the leader ran up to the Shadow and ripped the mask free of its face, and the battle began once again.
Oracle scanned the red-hooded Shadow, declaring it to be a Nebiros, and the group nodded in response, internally debating how they would go about defeating the enemy. Joker went first, unleashing a hail of bullets on the Shadow along with everyone else. Already, it seemed to be losing health fast, and the Thieves no longer found the Shadow at all intimidating. It seemed this would be child's play, yet again.
Valiant felt much more comfortable where she was now, finding it easier to help her teammates with the instructions she was given. It was lucky she was in her position to help Crow specifically, as it was soon revealed that his Bless skills were the Shadow's weakness. When it was finally time for his turn, he knocked it down easily, and the group launched into an All-Out-Attack.
Unfortunately, the Shadow was not yet defeated, and now that it knew which of its attackers was the biggest threat, it made sure to attack Crow with all it had. However, Valiant was prepared, leaping in front with a steady shield held in front of the beast's rapid fire hits. The pounding on her shield pushed her back slightly, but in the end she was the only one to take any sort of damage. Even then, she was barely hurt anyway.
Once again, the rest of the team members took their turn. The Shadow's health steadily dwindled. Finally, with a precise shot and a deadly look in his eyes, Joker finished off the Shadow.
"That went much more smoothly than our last battles," Queen commented with a relieved smile.
"Yeah, Joker even got to be all show-boaty at the end," Skull said excitedly, feeling rather hyper after watching the spectacle.
With the battle done, Oracle went up to the dice game's controls and began her work on it in order to undo the riggings, or rather, rig the game in their favor, upon Crow's suggestion.
"This feels wrong," Noir commented sadly, feeling guilty that they would stoop down so low.
"The odds are against us in every way, right now. We cannot win with normal methods," Crow explained. "I know it feels wrong, but you Phantom Thieves all agreed that you wanted to win Sae-san's challenge, did you not?"
"And… doesn't it kind of feel like she's trying to make a point?" Valiant asked, causing everyone to glance at her. "I mean, it's probably not on purpose, but it feels like Sae is trying to tell us something. In order to win with the odds stacked against you, it's not always possible to play fair, no matter what your moral compass says."
"You may be right," Queen said, looking down at the floor. "That's… probably how my sister has lost sight of her justice…"
"This makes me not want to cheat even more," Panther whined. "Like, I want to defy her expectations by taking the high road."
"Sadly, the deadline for the investigation is approaching too quickly for that," Crow reminded. "One of the unfortunate things about the high road is that it is much harder to follow, and therefore much longer."
"For the sake of efficiency, this is the best way," Fox said, a grim frown on his face. A troubled look appeared on everyone's face, even as Oracle put her finishing touches on the controls. "Okay, I rigged one of the games in our favor, just like you suggested, Crow." The girl turned to face Joke. "I marked our special room on the map, so make sure you go to that one!"
Joker thanked the girl and once again led the charge back to the dice games. After checking and double checking that he had the correctly marked room on the map, the group went in and played a game of dice, happy to see their number of coins increase. They played again and again, until their amount of coins reached over three-thousand. With that, the group left to regroup somewhere else and discuss what they should do to get the amount of coins that they needed.
"Woo, we won a lot! That was fun!" Panther exclaimed with a gleeful smile.
"Have we reached our goal?" Fox asked, looking to their newest member, who was quietly checking their members card.
"Not even close," Crow said, his voice more aggressive than he had intended. Still, it was aggravating to see they weren't even a tenth of the way to the amount they needed.
"Woah, that was more cut and dry than I was expecting," Mona commented, his already large eyes even more widened in shock.
Crow laughed nervously, hoping that he could somehow make the group forget his behavior. "I apologize. I suppose I simply found myself immersed by the spirit of competition. I do think it would be nice to have a bit more coinage at our disposal, wouldn't you agree?" As he said that, a new idea occurred to him, that could hopefully achieve both of their objectives at once.
"An idea just occurred to me. Valiant, would you accompany me?" the detective asked, looking at the girl for an answer.
"Oh, me?" Valiant asked, looking at him in question, before she quickly caught on to what he was scheming. He must want to sneak away and investigate… I should go along with this…
"You remember the condition for agreeing to work with you, right?" Joker reminded him with a stern look. Besides, after the previous events they had gone through, he knew the two needed chaperoning despite conditions.
"Of course," Crow deflected, before examining the rest of the team for someone they could have accompany them without revealing their investigation. "Hmm… I suppose Skull will do. Come with us, as well."
"Huh? Why me?" Skull asked, confused and troubled about being singled out.
Because I can count on you to not realize what we're up to, Crow thought to himself wryly, before instead saying, "Someone needs to do the heavy lifting for us."
"Valiant's crazy strong though, too," Skull argued, more offended for Valiant's sake than anything. Still, Joker needed someone to keep an eye on them, so he quickly gave a resigned nod. "Still, I'll keep you company."
"Thank you," Crow said with a genuine smile. He couldn't be more happy that they were so willing to go along with his requests, despite the betrayals they already knew of. It warmed his heart, even as guilt for not completely telling them everything filled him at the same time. "Well, let's get going. Everyone else can stay here." With that, he walked off. Valiant ran to stand by his side, while Skull trailed behind them.
"What do you want to do to win more coins?" Valiant asked curiously.
""I was thinking we could spend some time looking around for more of those boxes with free coins, while also looking around for other things… If we are thorough, perhaps we will come away with a pleasing result," Crow explained. "Also, it could prove beneficial to look around this floor for other opportunities to make coins."
"Makes sense," Valiant agreed with a light smile. "Let's get started."
"Agreed," Crow said, before turning to Skull with a frown. "Though we'll have to make sure we stay within his line of sight so he doesn't have anything to report back to Joker."
"Yeah..." Valiant trailed off as another thought came to her. "We could also go back to that dealer and borrow coins, right?"
That is an option." the detective considered quietly. "Perhaps we could see if there are other opportunities to get coins on this floor. It seems rather simple that only dice and slots are on this floor. I'd expect cards, as well."
"Chess, too," Valiant added with a teasing grin. "You could take home gold even if they were cheating at chess."
"I don't know if I'd go that far," the detective said, trying to be humble, even as he blushed and preened at the compliments. "We have to investigate no matter what, so let's begin."
The two began looking in opposite directions of the room, not wanting to separate and cause more trouble for Skull. While they were walking, they did come across a few of the gift boxes filled with coins, getting a few more hundred to add to the pile. Crow handed Skull all of the boxes they found, causing the poor boy to have to stumble around with a large stack slightly obscuring his vision. All the while, nothing stood out in the room as something that could be a clue.
When that initial search proved fruitless, the two began asking friendly looking Shadows, as well as the normal looking people on the members floor, for the answers they were looking for. While Skull was paying attention, they asked about ways to earn more coins, but when he had to pause to struggle to regain his hold on the boxes they kept piling on top of his arms, they asked about any other intruders in the Palace, or if there were any mysterious notes that had been left in the Palace.
After a while, Crow and Valiant decided to pay a visit to the Shadow dealer once more. Skull seemed rather unnerved by it, so he stayed further away, giving the two enough space to speak freely with the Shadow. Crow began by asking it about borrowing coins, while Valiant watched it writing things down in a ledger with a black pen.
"We've managed to gather seven-thousand coins from our look around this floor, just from those gift boxes alone… we should be able to get fourteen-thousand…" Crow began to do calculations in his head. Perhaps after that we should check and see what we could win using the slots…?
It was rather frustrating to only be able to concentrate on the simple goal of getting coins, since no clues had been found. Crow felt antsy, as he had been staking so much on this investigation proving successful. Was he only going to get messages if he were alone? So much trouble had to be made for even the smallest clue, and it frustrated him to no end.
Valiant found herself thinking of similar worries, knowing that even with Sae's help once they changed her heart, her teammates would still be in great danger if they couldn't find what they were looking for. Though she supposed they would be going after the mastermind, regardless of what they found. In the end, she decided to dismiss those worries for now, focusing back in to get a look at what the Shadow was writing with their pink pen.
Wait… that's not right, Valiant blinked, looking back at where the Shadow was writing to make sure she had seen correctly. The Shadow's pen was… black? Valiant could have sworn it was different a moment before, and before she had zoned out, it had also been black. But for a second it looked pink…
Perhaps it was a trick of the light…? Valiant had no idea why she felt so uneasy about the change in the color of the pen, as she glanced at a small jar full of spare pens, only to see they were all either black or blue. She looked at Crow, who was finally finishing up with talking to the Shadow.
She lightly tugged on his sleeve as soon as he turned away, catching his attention as she looked away tentatively. "What is it, Valiant?"
"G- Crow... " Valiant caught herself before she slipped up. "Did you see it... ? The Shadow's pen… changed?" Now she felt unsure as he looked at her curiously.
"I'm afraid I was not focused on the pen they were writing with, though I suppose that is definitely something notable…" Crow felt some of the weight leave his shoulders. Somebody who could make letters fall from the sky for only one person to see had to be capable of making a pen change, right? Even if it wasn't anything helpful, it was a step in the right direction. "Tell me how it changed later. For now, let's focus on getting more coins."
"Oh… okay," Valiant said with a nod, still unnerved by what she had just seen, and what she had seen earlier. It all felt so ridiculous and insignificant! She knew she had to be patient, but it was hard to do that when she just wanted to do something and finally feel helpful! Having to wait for a clue to appear gave her too much time to start doubting and worrying, just as she was doing now!
"Hey, you're doing well," Crow said, putting a hand on her shoulder with a light grasp. "It may not seem like much, but you noticed that when I didn't. Thank you."
Valiant blushed and nodded, feeling more assured by his words. Not to mention, it was clear from his words and body language that the detective was purposefully trying to comfort her. She wanted to show that his words meant something to her, while also making sure she didn't take his mind off of the objective. "I hope I can keep helping you…"
With no other business to attend to, the two walked back up to Skull and took two-thirds of the boxes from him, deciding to help him with the load. On the way back to the group, they managed to find a small handcart, which made things much easier. They soon got back to the rest of the Thieves, waiting exactly where Crow had told them to.
"Sorry about the wait,"Crow said upon their arrival, before nodding over to Skull and Valiant, who had both decided to push the handcart. "We ended up finding more coins than I expected, though we still have a ways to go before we reach fifty-thousand."
The Phantom Thieves transferred the money over to their members card, shocked at how many coins they had managed to pile up. Skull and Valiant were both grateful they no longer had to carry around the coins anymore, feeling pleased with the amount they had gathered so far.
"Seventeen-thousand coins…" Queen said in shock, looking at the card.
"We actually managed to scrounge up that many. What should we do next?" Panther asked.
"The slot machines, of course," Crow replied.
"I'm guessing those will be rigged, too…" Mona said with a groan.
"Well… in that case we'll just go through the same process we went through, before," Valiant said optimistically.
However, Valiant was proven wrong. A powerful Shadow was waiting for them at the entrance of the slots room, setting each of the thieves on high alert. It was quickly revealed that the Shadow had come to kill them, showing just how unfair Sae truly intended on being. Still, the shock of this made it very easy for the now revealed Shadow to attack them.
In a shocking turn of events, the Shadow knocked Crow out almost instantly, before any of the Phantom Thieves could react. While Mona focused his attention on reviving the boy, Valiant stepped in, once again acting as the shield for the entire team, boosting their agility and erecting a shield to protect the group from future attacks.
It was a hard battle to fight, until the initial shock wore off, which happened rather quickly. Despite the difficulty, it was no less comedic that the fallen Shadow had thought it could kill each of them, when it only took a few turns to practically massacre it.
The group spent a few long moments waiting for Crow to be revived, thankful to see him unharmed, though he was still rather unsteady on his feet. It had become quite clear to the group that they would soon need to head home, but Crow insisted they keep going.
After a few minutes spent investigating the slots area, which was much bigger compared to the area reserved for dice, the group found a massive slots machine that would grant them all the coins they needed with one simple turn. However, considering how easy it would be to rig such a game, the group agreed they would need to first undo the rigging.
Joker led the group around the room, finding each of the terminals Oracle needed to access in order to rig the machine in their favor, though there was still a chance they would lose. With that accomplished, they went back to the giant machine and decided to try playing it. At the very least, Crow had found them enough coins to try again if needed.
However, as luck would have it, they managed to get the triple-seven, winning them fifty-thousand more coins. As if to congratulate their victory, coins began raining out of the machine, though it was of course all for show. Now with their winnings, the group went to get their members card for the high-limit floor.
On their way, Valiant and Crow continued to look around the room in case they spotted anything noteworthy at the last minute, but sadly came up empty. As the one area they had yet to check, this was rather disappointing. If Crow was correct in the theories he had so far, the one sending him messages probably hadn't reached the high limit floor yet, since they would be subjected to Sae's cheating as well, and since Oracle had been the one to undo her rigging, they could be far ahead of this person. With the rigging undone though, the next time they came to this casino, the one they were looking for could be anywhere.
So far, Crow had noticed absolutely nothing. Though the change in the color of pen, that only Valiant had seen, made him worry that the one they were looking for might not actually be a person at all, or perhaps…
Do they have unique abilities like I do? Something that could make another person imagine things in front of them? Or something like that… That theory, though wildly speculative, was possible as far as Crow could tell. After all, he also had unique abilities born from his heart.
Even with no sign of the one they were looking for, the boy felt they had taken a step in the right direction with the clue Valiant had found, and the subsequent theory he had made from it. This theory would be an important topic to discuss when he and Valiant met up outside of the Metaverse. Hopefully, with this theory kept in mind, they could be mindful not to get distracted by such illusions, and actually find the source of them, if that was indeed the case.
By the time he let a smile slip onto his face, the group had reached the prize counter, with the Shadow dealer waiting for them. Joker quickly purchased a high limit card, much to the Shadow's shock. However, the Phantom Thieves paid it no mind, heading directly to the elevator so they could move up to the next floor.
But once again, a particularly powerful Shadow was waiting for them at the elevator. Obviously, Sae had caught onto their ruse, and was not going to let them progress without a fight. The Phantom Thieves, of course, were having none of it. They were used to getting through a Palace with sheer strength, so sending one of her grunts to deal with them did not deter them. If anything, it only seemed to motivate them, as the group knew they could handle the fight, even without their newest member giving them advice.
Needless to say, the Phantom Thieves defeated the Shadow. Before they could get onto the elevator, Shadow Sae's face appeared on the monitor screens looking down at the results of the battle she had forced.
"...What losers," Shadow Sae said, her dismissal of her cronies not nearly as disheartening to hear as what she said next. "Criminal trials are but a gamble to be won, and us prosecutors arrange the gambling table. Hence, losses are unacceptable! We must win, even if it has to be on false charges!"
"Are you serious, Sis!?" Queen shouted, wanting desperately to rid her sister of the distortions which were so painful to face. However, Sae did not acknowledge her. "Why won't you answer me!?"
"Mako-chan…" Noir trailed off sadly, reaching a sad hand out, as if to pat the girl's shoulder.
"Don't think such a petty trick could defeat me," Shadow Sae finally spoke, giving each of the thieves a demeaning glare. "I may have to acknowledge your skills-if you can make it to the manager's floor, that is."
"She thinks the trials which shape the outcomes of people's lives are nothing more than gambles…?" Crow said softly, looking down at the ground. "I wish I didn't have to hear that from Sae-san herself…" It was like a punch to the gut, knowing he was part of why Sae viewed the world in such a way.
Valiant looked at all of her disheartened teammates, knowing there wasn't a thing she could do to take their troubles away, except for what she already was doing. Still, she searched for words she could say that might lift the burden from their hearts.
"Sis is completely distorted!" Queen shouted in distress, turnin to face everyone else. "We have to stop her, quickly!"
"Let's save her, together," Joker replied warmly, sympathizing with his friend's plight.
"We will, Queen. I won't rest until I know we'll all be okay," Valiant added, a grim frown on her face as she found herself briefly thinking of the consequences of failure.
"We all feel the same way," Noir concluded.
"There's no time to waste. She mentioned something about a manager's floor, right?" Mona said, hopping in place and smiling in determined optimism. "Let's try heading up there. We'll change Niijima-san's heart for sure."
Unfortunately, going up to the high limit floor revealed that they would not be able to make any more progress that day. A Shadow stood at the entrance, with the entrance closed behind him. No amount of pressure or insistence from the Phantom Thieves would make the Shadow budge, as it only kept repeating that they needed a reservation to gain access. Clearly, something needed to be done in the real world to influence Sae's cognition.
"Essentially, Sae-san needs to think of us as being allowed to enter, correct?" Crow asked, as he put his hand to his chin and began to put his detective brain to good use for once. "Hm… This casino is the courthouse in reality… So that floor must be a place only authorized personnel are given access to… I would say it has to be the courtroom."
"You really are an ace detective," Panther complimented with a large grin on her face.
"I give you an A-plus for this trial, Detective Crow," Oracle declared, standing up straight and giving him a mock salute.
"Good job!" Valiant added with an awkward grin. She felt slightly unnerved by the idea of needing to go see Sae again. Whether as a Shadow or in person, that woman scared the crap out of her. "So… I guess this means we'll have to go to the courtroom?"
"Yes…" Crow trailed off as he had his own fears for this meeting. That prospect is rather terrifying. Sae is probably still mad at me… I wonder if she'll let me into the high limit floor even if she sees me in the courtroom… That could be a problem, if it was the case. Not to mention, cats weren't allowed in the courtroom, so would Mona be able to get in?
After a bit more discussion of how exactly to get into the courtroom, Queen cleared all of the talk with a simple solution. "We just need to attend a trial."
"Still, how are we supposed to know which trials my sister will be attending?" The brunette suddenly looked unsure, looking down at the floor.
"Leave that to me. I have some connections that come to mind," Crow said reassuringly. Of course, I'll need to ask those connections for entrance without giving away why… I can't have that information getting back to Shido… "I will contact you once I manage to arrange a time. We should return to the real world for today though. See you all in the courtroom." He spoke rather quickly, which didn't escape the Phantom Thieves' notice.
However, they chose not to mention it. As his friends, they decided for now it would be best to not pry into why he suddenly sounded so anxious. What they didn't know was that his mind was filled with all sorts of different possibilities for how to get the group a smooth entrance into the courtroom as quickly as possible. Also, at this point he really wanted to get back to the real world and be able to talk freely with Valiant about their findings in the Palace, as well as his phone call from the previous night.
The Phantom Thieves got to the Palace entrance in no time, and left the Metaverse not long after. Everyone felt dead on their feet after such a long time spent in the Palace, and Sayori debated asking Goro if they could wait until later to have their meeting. But even as she considered the option, she knew she wasn't even going to ask. She wanted to talk with him and spend time with him again. In all honesty, she missed having all of his attention to herself when they were both at home, and wanted to have time with him as often as she could.
She… missed him, Sayori realized, as she waved goodbye to Ann and promised not to be late getting home. The girl knew the meeting would have to be quick. Despite how much she wanted otherwise, it was dangerous to spend the night at the apartment. With that in mind, Sayori felt herself beginning to increase in her walking speed, wanting to get to the apartment quickly, even though her energy waned.
"So… what did you want to talk about?" Sayori asked as soon as Goro was absolutely sure that they could hold this meeting without being spied upon.
The detective sighed in exhaustion, laying back in his hair as his own energy felt completely spent after that visit to the Palace. He still had so much to do, in order to assure their infiltration into Sae's Palace could continue, not to mention this conversation was already exhausting to think about.
"First of all, I should tell you about a recent update on my side of things… My father called me last night, wanting to know what my plan was to eliminate the Phantom Thieves," Goro explained, sensing the new tension in the air as Sayori froze at the thought.
"I… I'm sorry to hear that…" Sayori trailed off, feelings of guilt and sorrow making her feel disoriented. She took a seat on the small couch, hugging herself tightly. "Somehow, it never really registered with me to keep our identities a secret… you would have to keep talking with him."
"What?" Goro looked up in confusion as the despairing girl, not quite understanding how she could have missed the point so completely, yet still enamored him with her bizarre concern for his well being. "Sayori, did you not hear the last half of my sentence, about how he wanted to talk about how he wanted me to dispose of all of you!?"
"I heard it… But you telling me about it just tells me I have nothing to fear. You wouldn't be telling me any of this if you weren't on our side," Sayori looked down for a moment, a deeper worry suddenly occurring to her. "...But since you brought it up, how did you handle the call? What did you say to Shido?"
Goro was momentarily floored by her explanation. The sense of trust she held for him conflicted him to no end, for he knew she shouldn't trust him this much. It was foolish of her to trust him, but he also felt encouraged by her confidence, both in him, and that she was right. Sayori was so sure that she was right about him…It made him even happier that he had fortunate news to give about this phone call, if you could call it that.
"I made up a very bizarre plan in order to fake him out, based on discussions the two of us had earlier to murder Akira… Though Shido only knows him as 'the leader of the Phantom Thieves,'' the detective began, "This supposed plan is for me to take an army of police into the Metaverse with me, where upon witnessing the Phantom Thieves in action, they would place all of you under arrest."
"I see…" Sayori said uneasily. "This plan relies a lot on Sae's Palace, then. Are we going to be able to avoid it, even with your help?"
"I've bought us some time to steal Sae-san's Treasure, as well as my father's," Goro said in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "I told him that I have yet to even become a part of the Phantom Thieves, which is another important factor in planning his arrest. Hopefully, by the time he becomes wise to the truth, all of us will have already gotten close to stealing his Treasure."
"I'm happy you were able to do that," Sayori replied, feeling herself relax from her once tense posture. "We'll have problems if Sae tells anyone about her calling card, though…"
"I don't believe she would tell anyone, due to how it might look… Though, it would be wise to ask Makoto if there's anything she could do to keep it private." Goro looked down thoughtfully, before shaking his head. "That is all I have to say about that, though. There's not much use in worrying about things like that."
"Yeah," Sayori agreed, a small smile forming. "Thank you for telling me. It makes me feel better to know that you trust me with important stuff like this."
"Good... " He trailed off, unsure how to continue. Awkwardly, Goro moved onto the next important topic of their meeting. "I'm afraid I didn't find anything new in the Palace, but I did come up with a possible theory after you mentioned the pen to me. But before I tell you, is there anything else that caught your attention in the Palace?"
Sayori nodded, albeit hesitantly, as she thought about the only other thing that had happened in the Palace, aside from the pen changing color. "At one point, I could have sworn I saw something… moving, out of the corner of my eye, after we got the members card."
"I see… Though that seems rather vague. Could you describe it to me?"
"Well, no… not really," Sayori shook her head in shame. "I don't even know what I saw, but I did think there was a Shadow following us, but I also didn't…?" She sounded more unsure as she spoke, resting her head in her hands as she shook her head frantically.
"Well, whatever you thought you saw, it lends more viability to my theory," Goro replied, before feeling a small hint of triumph as another thought occurred. "I also think we can safely conclude that the one we're looking for might have been in Sae-san's Palace, perhaps even at the same time we were. If you remember, Sae-san seemed very confused when she looked at all of us, asking if we were the only ones in the Phantom Thieves…"
"So, you think that Sae thought there was supposed to be someone else with us?" Sayori prompted, causing the detective to nod. "It makes sense. That Palace had a lot of security and cameras."
"Yes, though another worry of mine is that we may have missed our chance to find the one giving us messages, since we unlocked the high limit floor, today. Before that, I think anyone in the Palace would have been stuck in the lower floors, but now we have more places to look around…"
"There's not much we can do about it. What's most important is helping Sae, and wanting to stay behind would slow everyone down, which would probably make them suspicious of us," Sayori pointed out, and the detective quickly conceded that she had a point. "Besides, I think it will be fine. The person we're looking for also needs a reservation, so unless they get one, or find some other way in, they'll be stuck in the first two floors."
"Good point… I suppose we might need to find an excuse to go back to the first two floors, then," Goro guessed.
"Yeah…" Sayori trailed off in thought for a few moments, trying to think of an excuse right then and there, but then thought better of it. "Anyway, what was your theory?"
"Right… One theory I have right now is that, like me, the person we're looking for has a special power that comes with their Persona. Perhaps changing that pen's color was their way of showing us," the detective hypothesized.
"So… like… a power to… make people see things that aren't there?" Sayori asked, feeling lost, all the while she wondered more about what power Goro had. It must have to do with the shutdowns and breakdowns… I don't think I want to know, if that's the case…
"Yes. They made letters rain from the ceiling that only I could see, even when you were all nearby in Okumura's Palace, and changed that pen's color… And who knows what else… as I can't exactly tell what that power would be. After all, I could physically touch those letters, and all of the things that they have left behind, such as the flash drive and your fake Treasure, make me question whether it only works in the Metaverse… But how would that even be possible?" Goro began to ramble, asking questions, and essentially pointing out all of the flaws in his theory. He was sure Sayori must think he was sleep deprived and crazy, but he honestly couldn't help his behavior, especially because he was sleep deprived and crazy.
"It makes sense… But that also makes me think… could this person's power make it possible to hide themself?" Sayori asked, thinking of the moment that she had thought she had seen something in the Palace.
Goro went pale at that. "If that is it, then I suppose it is obvious why we never have seen them in the Palaces, except for the few things they allow us to see. What's worse is that I can think of no way to counter this, unless we somehow managed to get our hands on paint tags, or something of the like… Though it's not confirmed that they are just making themself invisible…"
"I think you're thinking too hard about this, Goro," Sayori said, quietly. "At least, you should think about this later, when you've had time to sleep."
"I still have too much to do before I can even think of sleeping," he replied with a yawn. "I still have to think of a way to contact my connections in the police force without alerting anyone that I have already infiltrated the Phantom Thieves. That is difficult when there are not many reasons for why I would be so insistent about having a group of teenagers attend a trial…So I can afford to think about this theory for…" another yawn, "some time longer."
"I think that's stretching yourself a little thin," Sayori argued with a frown. "Goro, just focus on getting us into the courtroom, then sleep. You can think about this theory tomorrow."
"I can't afford to waste time. It may not be as important as helping Sae-san, but it would still help the Phantom Thieves avoid getting arrested. Not to mention, I need to solve this mystery… for your sake-"
"What does this have to do with me?" Sayori asked, worry apparent on her face, before she suddenly gave the boy a strict frown. "Actually, nevermind. I don't need to know right now, just like you don't need to think about it right now."
"But, I need to do this… before I run out of time…" Before I die for my betrayal… I have to do what I can to help Sayori and the Phantom Thieves avoid danger… before Sayori is lost forever… Though that last thought felt egotistical. He knew there were detectives far more competent than him, who would have gotten Sayori home by now, but there was also the fact that he wanted to be the one to do it. He wanted to help Sayori, because as things were right now, he knew he didn't deserve the trust she placed in him.
"Goro… whatever you're thinking right now can wait until tomorrow," Sayori interrupted, staring him down. "Everything will turn out okay, because I'm there for you and you're there for me…" The girl stood up from her spot on the couch and stretched. "So don't worry… and get some sleep tonight." She looked at the time and groaned. Already, she had to go home, otherwise she would be late to catch the last stop to Ann's.
Noticing the same problem, Goro finally relented. "Alright, I promise I'll go to sleep within an hour, after I have spent some time thinking of how to get all of you into the courtroom. Will that work?"
"Yes. Thank you," Sayori said with a grateful smile. "I guess I'll get going then."
"Yeah…" the detective felt his heart sink against his will, longing for something his mind knew wasn't possible at the moment. "I'll contact all of you when everything is arranged."
"I know you will," Sayori said, her voice full of certainty, and her smile so confident, that the detective wanted to do whatever he could to make sure that she stayed like that. He never wanted her to be disappointed in him again.
Sayori and Goro bid each other good night, and Sayori hurried out to catch her stop. All the while, she concentrated on that feeling of trust she had. When she felt that way, she no longer feared that things would go wrong. No matter what, as long as she could count on her allies, and they could count on her, she wasn't afraid. As long as she could hold onto her friends… and as long as she could hold onto Goro, she no longer felt like she was barely hanging on by a thread.
Things are going to be okay… I know it. Even if they don't, right now I feel like I can accept whatever outcome as long as I have my friends with me… and as long as I have Goro with me…
The next day, Goro took everyone to Sae's trial, looking both ways at the entrance to make sure no one else that he knew was there. Thankfully, it looked as though they were in the clear, as Goro took a seat in the second aisle, not wanting to be at the front of Sae's view. He and Sae hadn't spoken since their argument, so he had no idea how she viewed him now, but with the woman's tendency to hold grudges, and Yaguchi's continued presence around her, it couldn't be anything good.
The detective barely even noticed as the other Phantom Thieves took seats around him and began to silently talk amongst themselves about the courtroom and the trial, as it was the first time most of them had been in one. He found himself worried as Sayori sat next to him, remembering Sae's disapproval and anger of what had happened. He was always searching for approval from his peers, so having someone he considered a sort-of friend and partner scold him filled him with an unpleasant feeling he was only angry to have.
"Did you tell her you'd be coming?" Ann asked Makoto, somehow registering in Goro's hearing, even though the rest of what had been said only sounded like muffles.
Makoto shook her head," I did, but I don't think she read the message though."
"Do we have a backup plan?" Futaba asked, looking around the room uncomfortably, as if she thought they would have to cause a disturbance in such a solemn place.
"She'll notice us eventually…" Sayori began to assure. As though it were on cue, Sae looked up a few moments later, a look of plain shock and confusion on her face as she said something to herself, probably about them.
"Oh, wow. That was quick," Ryuji commented with a grin. "She finally noticed us, so we must be cool to enter now, ri-" He was cut off as everyone noticed a very stark change in atmosphere. Sae's shock and confusion had mutated into anger in a matter of seconds, leveled at Goro, who looked incredibly uncomfortable.
"What is with this menacing aura?" Yusuke asked quietly, noting with a grimace the way the detective seemed to squirm under the woman's piercing glare. Sayori tried to put a hand on the detective's shoulder in an attempt to make him feel better, but the tension only seemed to rise as Sae's mood seemed to darken even more, prompting Goro to shy away from the girl's touch.
"What's that about?" Futaba asked, mostly to herself. Everyone seemed concerned about what exactly that interaction was, wondering why such a reaction was affecting their teammate so much.
"Why is it only at you…?" Makoto asked, thinking that her sister would glare at her like that before she would ever glare at Goro Akechi. "Did something happen? Is everything alright?"
The detective stubbornly refused to answer, making the team hypothesize to themselves what had happened to piss off the prosecutor so much. Makoto debated asking Sae about it later, but realized that would only lead to another scolding for herself. That would help no one, so she simply let it go for now. Everyone else did the same, for the most part, though Haru also tried to give the detective a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"I wonder if this is going to affect the Palace…" Morgana mumbled to himself, only for Ryuji to push him further into the bag with instructions to keep quiet and stay hidden. With the uncomfortable atmosphere still present, even after Sae had turned back to her work, the Phantom Thieves just wanted to get this trial over with as quickly as possible.
Sayori felt frustrated as the detective shied away from her touch, though of course it wasn't at Goro. She wondered idly what had happened between the two to spark this reaction in her boyfriend, only having that one memory she had unintentionally seen between Makoto and her sister to draw reference from. It made the girl want to go up and demand an explanation from the woman, not liking this fearful reaction from Goro at all. It hurt even worse as the trial began and she couldn't even say anything to comfort him, much less touch him as he seemed so nervous to do.
It hurt to see him hurt like this, and Sayori promised to herself that she was going to make it better. After all, they had an entire day to spend in the Palace after this, where she could talk with him and protect him all she could. It was also an exciting thought. Since Sae seemed to dislike Sayori making contact with her own boyfriend, the girl was going to go into that woman's Palace and do it as much as she and Goro damn-well pleased.
The trial lasted too long for Sayori to stand, and she found herself leaning on Makoto's shoulder tiredly. Thankfully, the brunette didn't seem to mind too much as Sayori dozed off, glad to know that the girl didn't snore. The girl could feel her sister's glare burning daggers into her as well, and only then did Makoto think to look and find that Sae was glaring at Sayori, of all people. Though she couldn't be completely sure, it clicked in Makoto's mind why Sae might be mad at Goro. Though it didn't make much sense, unless there was a piece of the puzzle that Makoto was missing. Why would Sae be so upset at the two and their relationship?
The girl's thoughts were interrupted as she saw the entrance to the courtroom open and close, revealing a man Makoto had met a few times before. Rando Yaguchi was a close colleague to her sister, and had come over to the sisters' apartment when work called for it. However, it had been quite some time since Makoto had seen or heard from him. The man scanned the crowd, spotting Goro Akechi and frowning. His eyes passed over him, and then over Sayori, and briefly stopped at Makoto. The girl gave a small wave, but he barely seemed to acknowledge it, instead sweeping his gaze over the rest of the people around them.
Makoto didn't know why she got a sinking feeling as he left immediately after that, not understanding anything about what had occurred in those brief seconds. She wondered if he was in the same anger-driven mindset as her sister, who had turned her full attention back to the trial. Maybe I should ask Akechi or Sis about him later… However, the girl thought better of it as she looked at the rest of her team, who each had conflicted looks on their faces, thinking about something that bothered all of them at the moment.
Finally, the trial ended, and the group of teenagers quickly left the courtroom and made their way outside. They watched as officers, employees, and other people that had attended the trial filed out of the courthouse, waiting for the yard to be completely empty of potential witnesses.
Meanwhile, Ryuji stretched out his legs, as they had gotten stiff after sitting down for so long, and Sayori yawned and stretched her arms out lazily, trying to wake up from the nap she had taken. Ann tightened her pigtails and made sure she had gotten no new texts on her phone. Akira and Morgana checked the leader's school bag to make sure he had all of the new medicine and weapons he had bought earlier. Yusuke was searching his person for any new cards he had copied. Haru and Makoto were secretly double checking their model weapons inside their bags, not wanting any authority figure to see the weapons and assume the worst. Futaba was responding to a worried text from Sojiro, and Akechi was looking at a news sight on his phone.
Finally, the area was cleared of other people, and the group of teens went to the back of the building and activated the Nav. The world blurred away, and the Phantom Thieves were once again ready to continue making progress.
I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it.