Chapter 2: Patriot
"I wish I had a little more time; The current moves me forth…"
The subway was packed with people today. I was basically hugging Ryuko the cars were so full, not that I was upset about it, let me make that clear enough. Today I wanted to make my first day at school less chaotic than it was the last time around. But then again, I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to connect with Ryuji and Ann if I didn't at least follow the same paths I had before. I could try and make everything the same, but I definitely think things can go better than they did before. If anything, this was an opportunity to make things right.
The train arrived at our stop, and we flopped out onto the platform with the rest of the commuters. "Man, those suck!" Ryuko said to me as we climbed to the surface. "You didn't have subway trains in your world?" I asked, "We did, but they were for the rich people you know." she replied nonchalantly. "Huh, well anyways, just follow my lead." I said as we got out of the station and onto the sidewalk, raindrops were just starting to sprinkle down. The two of us were walking along and I pulled out my umbrella.
The rain picked up more as we walked along, and I had my eyes set for one person. And soon enough I saw her, standing in the same place she was when I first met her. "Hey, you want to come under?" I asked Ann as she looked up from her phone. I flashed her a welcoming smile, "Sure, thanks." Ann said as she came up next to me. "Are you two transfer students? I haven't seen you around Shujin at all." Ann asked, looking at our uniforms. "Yeah, my name's Ryuko, and we met each other yesterday." Ryuko said as she jerked her head towards me, she was on my other side from Ann.
"Oh, that's cool! You both second years then?" Ann said, eyeing up the chevrons on my uniform. "Yeah, we're in Ms. Kawakami's homeroom." I said, "Hey I'm in there too!" Ann exclaimed as we reached the front gate of the school. We walked up the stairs and through the doors. Ryuko and I grabbed plastic bags for our umbrellas as Ann went on ahead to class. "Who was that?" Ryuko asked as we went towards the stairs. "That was Ann Takamaki, one of the original Thieves. I want to try and get closer to her so we can recruit her again. She was a really damn good fighter." I said, "You sure you didn't like her for… other, reasons?" Ryuko jabbed. I smirked a little bit as we reached the teachers' office.
I opened the door for Ryuko and she went in first. Ms. Kawakami was the only teacher left in the room, waiting for us presumably. "Oh, hello you two. I'll walk you into class soon." she said as she tidied up some papers. "I'll just introduce you both to the class. There should be two open desks in the back by the windows if you two want to use those." she said as she stood up from her desk. "Oh, and I couldn't find enough textbooks for the two of you, so you'll have to share for today." Ms. Kawakami said as she gave me a stack of books to carry.
The three of us went out of the room and Ms. Kawakami opened the door for me as I went inside. The classroom was abruptly silent as I stood in front of everyone. Ryuko didn't seem to care. "Good morning class, before we get started, I have some announcements. Clearly here we have two new students. This is Ryuko Matoi and…" she began, I tuned out and looked around the room and saw some familiar faces. Ann for one but also Mishima, who was staring blankly into his desk, bandages and bruises adorning his body. "Well, I hope you get along with these two, now take your seats." Ms. Kawakami finished. We went over to the two open desks. I smiled at Ann, which she repaid as I sat behind her. Ryuko sitting at the last open desk behind me.
"Well then, before we start the first lesson, I would like to announce that the student council, which was elected at the end of last week, will be holding an assembly at the end of the day tomorrow with some remarks from Mr. Kamoshida as well. With that out of the way, let us begin." Ms. Kawakami said as she turned to the blackboard and started writing some stuff on it.
I quickly became detached from the lecture, having already learned all this stuff. I found my mind wandering and I was curious as to why the council was calling an assembly, I don't remember them ever doing that in the past. Ann cleared her throat suddenly and nudged my desk a bit. "I'll repeat, who is the man that is credited with inventing the gas-powered automobile?" Ms. Kawakami asked, looking at me for an answer. "Oh, um, Ransom Olds?" I answered, I'm not sure where that came from, but Ms. Kawakami looked displeased. "Wrong, Karl Benz is credited with inventing what we would call 'cars' today. Ransom Olds was the first to construct cars on an assembly line." she said. I could hear other students muttering in disapproval at my answer, and I could see Ryuko behind me leaning her chair back on two legs dozing off.
The rest of the day passed by without much to note. Ryuko and I just kind of went with the flow until the day was done. Oddly enough I never got to talk to any of the other Thieves although I did see them walking around in the hallways. At least I knew where they were, but I wanted to see if there was a better way of getting them back to normal before I tried to befriend them again. It was also just weird on my part, how do you make friends with someone you already know so much about? I wasn't James Bond.
I was walking out the front doors with Ryuko when she stopped dead in her tracks. "What's up?" I asked, "Over there." Ryuko said, nodding towards the gardens. Ryuji and some girl with light brown hair were being cornered by a group of other students. "Yeah, I know the guy, but I wasn't going to…" I began, "Whatever, that first year is Mako Mankanshoku, and the four bullying her are Satsuki's deputies." Ryuko growled. Before I could calm her down, she stormed off towards them, and I followed along.
"What's wrong huh? You know PDA is banned on school grounds, right?" one guy said, he had on a long overcoat and a green headband on that covered his hairline. "We weren't doing anything though!" Ryuji said. One of the others, an absolute unit of a guy moved closer, Ryuji shoved mako behind him. "You know better than to talk back to us maggot!" he yelled, his voice was deep and manly, unlike any highschooler I've ever met.
Ryuji stuck out his hand and tried to push him back, but that was the wrong decision. The big guy grabbed his wrist and started wringing Ryuji around. "You know, you might have been a track star, but you don't got the stones to act out anymore huh?" the guy said as he threw away Ryuji's wrist. "Hey!" Ryuko called out as we reached the group. "Who the hell are you?" one pink-haired girl asked as we joined the conversation. "Your worst nightmare!" Ryuko snapped back. "I believe these two are the new transfer students who arrived today, Ryuko Matoi and…" one nerdy looking guy started to say, "Yeah you already know who I am, now why don't you asshats pick on someone who can take it?" Ryuko thrashed. She stood in a pose ready for a fight, and I for one was right there too, ready to back her up.
What happened next was hard to explain. Almost as if we were in a movie, the rest of the world got dark and Mako stepped out from behind Ryuji. She had a radiant air about her and she struck some sort of weird pose with her hands interlocked and I could have sworn I heard a choir playing from someone's phone. The four deputies paused in confusion but Ryuko didn't seem phased at all. "Ryuji does have the stones!" she said, "I know it." she said, crouching down and pointing at him. "He has the courage to date a crazy person like me." she said, "Hell, my whole family is still wondering what the hell he's doing." she said, taking out a polaroid photo that was half torn, or eaten, I couldn't tell. "You may think he's just some lil' wuss but I know in my heart he can fight you to the end!" she said, taking a saluting pose next to Ryuji. She was about to say something else but she got cut off.
"What's this I hear about fighting?" a voice from behind me said. Kamoshida was the owner and his presence seemed to temper the four deputies. "I'm sure you all know that we have a no tolerance policy here at Shujin for fighting." Kamoshida said, the four nodded and Mako's fervor turned to dust. "Anyways, I'm in a good mood so I'll just pretend I heard nothing of the sort. Satsuki would like to talk to you four about tomorrow's assembly, she's up in the council room with Nijima now." The four deputies all nodded and muttered in agreement as they went back inside.
"I suggest the rest of you hurry along home now!" Kamoshida continued, turning his attention towards us, "Wouldn't want to miss a train." he said, smirking as he slithered back towards the doors. "God, what a dickhead!" Ryuji said when Kamoshida was out of earshot. "Forget him, let's just get going." Mako said, gripping Ryuji's arm. "Yeah, whatever. Thanks for the save you guys, I'm sure that wouldn't have ended well for the four of them, with my epic skills!" Ryuji said, striking a pose for Ryuko and I. Mako giggled a little bit, "Anyways, I'm Ryuji, and this is my girlfriend Mako." he said, reaching out a hand. I took it, "No problem, this is Ryuko and I'm…" I started to say but I was cut off by a loud crack of thunder which startled most of us.
"Oh crap! We should get going, nice meeting you though." Ryuji said, taking Mako's hand as they raced off towards the train station. Ryuko and I stood there, I looked at her and she gave me a look that said, 'I don't know either.' and we took off towards the station too.
By the time we got to LeBlanc it was pretty much a monsoon outside and despite our umbrellas Ryuko and I were soaked through. Sojiro saw the state we were in and decided not to make any quips or snappy comments as we squelched up the stairs. After changing into dry clothes, Ryuko spoke up, "So, what's this super-secret money-making thing you said you'd show me?" "Well, come here." I said while taking out my phone. Ryuko came up next to me, and I opened the Navigator. "Suguru Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle" I spoke into the phone. "Destination found, beginning navigation." it said. I looked at Ryuko, whose face was all distorted and wobbly, but surprised all the same at finally seeing the Nav in action.
I blacked out for a moment, but when I came to, I was face to face with Kamoshida's castle. It looked pretty much the same as before, which was a good sign. I just hope it was all the same inside too. I was in my Thief gear, and I could feel the presence of my Personas within me, it seems like they also didn't go away. I checked my gear too, and I still had my knife and pistol from when I last faced Maruki. It wouldn't be easy sailing exactly, but this Palace shouldn't be too hard to get through with all my old stuff.
"What the?" I heard Ryuko say behind me. I was expecting her to be staring up at the castle, but she seemed to be more interested in her clothes, the sailor uniform was flattering for her, if not a bit risqué, not that I minded personally. "Senketsu?" she whispered. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, getting really giddy and hugging herself. "Uh, are you okay?" I asked. "I'm more than that!" she exclaimed, "You remember the kamui named Senketsu that I told you about? This is him!" "He's a sailor uniform?" I asked, "That's just the form he takes, but he's a living creature like you and I." Ryuko said.
I nodded and let her wear herself out some more while I investigated the outside walls, looking for the vent we had used the first time around to get inside. I found the grate and I leaped up, prying it off the wall and landing back on the ground. "So, uh, what's the plan exactly?" Ryuko asked, having said her hellos again I presume. "Well, inside there will be what we call Shadows, which are manifestations of the desires of Kamoshida, the guy who called off those deputies at school today." I said. "Okay, and?" Ryuko asked, she seemed to remember most of what I told her, which was good. "We'll need to take off the masks they're wearing and then fight them. And after we beat them up enough, we can rob them in exchange for letting them run." I said, "Oh I like that." she said, eyeing up the vent hole, ready to jump.
"Wait," I said, grabbing her arm as she was about to jump, "I've went through here before, but I'm not sure how much will have changed since I last cleared this Palace. Also, I think a friend of mine might be trapped here, so for now we're going to head to the dungeons to rescue him." "Uh, okay, a friend of yours is here?" Ryuko asked, brushing my arm off kindly, "Yes, his name is Morgana, and you'll know him when you see him, but that's the objective here today. Don't go looking for any unnecessary fights, and speaking of, do you have a weapon?" I asked, not seeing any obvious weapons for her to fight with. But all she did was smirk at me, and I'm not exactly where she pulled it from, but she had produced a five-foot-long red scissor blade which seemed entirely unbalanced. "This work?" Ryuko quipped, "Yeah," I said, a grin growing on my face "I think it will."
We climbed through the vent and landed in a room inside the castle. I peeked into the hallway down towards the main hall and I saw that it was empty. I dashed across the hall and through a doorway which led to another corridor. There was a Shadow at the opposite end, I took cover behind an armchair. Ryuko took cover behind the same chair, crouching up and close to me, eyeing the Shadow.
"So, what exactly do we do?" she whispered, her breath hitting my face we were so close. I smirked at her, "We do this." I whispered back. I darted out from the cover and silently ran at the Shadow. I leaped up onto its back and ripped off its mask before it had time to fully react. The dark face and red eyes below the mask vanished into a mist as two enemies took form, a Pixie and a Jack-o'-Lantern. I pulled my pistol and shot down the Jack-o'-Lantern. I put another bullet into the Pixie, which spooked it enough to come begging for mercy. I kept my sights on it and Ryuko joined me in the Hold Up, raising her scissor blade dramatically at the Shadow.
"Oh please, you don't have to kill little old me!" the Pixie said, "Let's see the money then." I said, using the vocal techniques Mr. Tora had taught me to intimidate the Shadow more. "Really? You know, it feels like I know you from somewhere, why don't we talk this out?" it said, "No" I said firmly, "Fine, take this." the Pixie said, forking over five thousand yen. "You can do better than that." I said, jerking my pistol a little for effect. "Fine, you sure are a tough one." it said, handing over another five thousand. Pocketing the money, I lowered my gun and Ryuko her sword. The Shadow vanished off to wherever they go.
"What the hell was that?" Ryuko asked, looking astonished at what had just happened. "Remember what I was saying about Shadows and how you can talk to them? That was a real weak one. I'd expect something tougher coming our way soon now that it's gone." I said. I separated half the money and put it in Ryuko's hand. "It's that easy huh?" she said, staring at the fold of bills. "Yep, there's also some other stuff we can steal, but we ought to get going." I said, "Right." she said, pocketing the cash.
The Palace was largely the same as I remember it, we fought some more shadows, gathering an increasing amount of cash as the they got tougher and tougher to beat. Ryuko was a natural at fighting, she had mastered her scissor blade and could spin it around her hand at incredible speeds, but I had yet to see her use a Persona, or whatever a 'kamui' counted as.
We had reached the staircase to the dungeons, and I was pretty worn out, not from combat, but just all the running. I wasn't in the best shape I suppose. "Hey", I said to Ryuko, "why don't we call it a day here?" "Yeah, you know I was about to ask the same of you." she said back. "Alright, well we are close to the dungeons where my friend will be. And I know of a place where we can go to catch some rest before heading back." I said as we took a flight of stairs down.
We reached a basement floor that was covered in cobblestones from the floor to ceiling, it was officially the dungeon portion of the castle. I was about to walk around a corner where I was sure I could sense a Safe Room, but I sensed shadows too. Taking cover at the corner, I looked down the hallway. It looked the same as the rest of the dungeon, but at the end there was a big drawbridge that I assume led to the cells. Off to the side was a door to a Safe Room, but in front of it was a guard captain, his gold armor defining his stronger abilities. The security level of the Palace must have gotten too high, and they were bolstering their defenses as a result.
Ryuko was looking at the Shadow too, "What's up with him?" she asked. "Well, we can't ambush him since we must go from the front. If you look past him and to the right, you'll see a door that's kind of wobbly, that's where we need to go." I said. Ryuko nodded and I decided to take the lead. I stood up and walked around the corner, Ryuko behind me. "Halt! No one may enter here without the express permission of the King, present your credentials, or vacate the premises!" the captain said, angling his sword at us. "No" I said, drawing the pistol and knife from my belt. Ryuko got her scissor blade out and we set up for a fight. The Shadow lurched and reformed into a Grimehkala. I winced at the elephant spirit's form. This was the toughest enemy we faced yet.
I didn't really have the need to use them yet, but I decided now was the time to summon a Persona, I tried to remember what this Shadow was weak to, and oddly enough Bless attacks came to mind. So, I summoned Alice, and used her to knock the shadow down, which I then followed up with my knife. I think I put it about half strength, but they healed shortly after. Ryuko took a swing at the beast, but it repelled the damage back onto her. I thought quickly and I debuffed the shadow, making it forget its moves. Ryuko was looking a little frustrated with the shadow, and she did something that's honestly hard to put into words. As if she just thought of it, her clothes transformed into an even skimpier version of what they once were. She yelled out in anger, "KAMUI SENKETSU!" and lunged at the shadow.
She got a technical hit on it and the shadow was knocked down. I went in for a Hold-Up, but she was quicker than I was, going All-Out on the shadow. I joined in and together we vanquished it. I pulled my gloves and smirked as Ryuko straightened up, her clothes having turned back to normal. "The show's over!" I said, she laughed a little at that and we went into the safe room.
The room looked the same as before, and I flopped down into a chair. Ryuko sat across the table from me and leaned her head back. "You hurt at all?" I asked. "Yeah, that fucking thing made me cut myself, and that's why I got all mad." she said, holding up her left hand which was cut up and bloodied. I summoned Ishtar and healed Ryuko. "What?" she exclaimed, turning her arm around, it being fully healed over like new. "I have the ability to hold multiple Personas within me." I said, taking off my mask and holding it in front of me. "I figured that much. I saw you using a few just then." she said, leaning over the table.
"Yeah, I guess you would have. But your Persona is way different than anything I've seen." I said, meeting her eyes. "Well, because Senketsu isn't a 'Persona'. or whatever, he's a living thing. Hell, I can even talk to him." Ryuko said, patting her chest a little. "Really?" I asked, "Yeah, can't you talk to yours?" she asked, "Well, sometimes, but the Personas are more like a part of me. When I first awakened to the powers, it was Arsene, my first, that pushed me to rebel and fight back, but that was a long time ago. 'I art thou, thou art I.' he said, and since then I haven't really felt the same." I said, I'm not sure how, but I had never really told anyone about all that, Ryuko was working me out, whether intentionally or not. "Huh, so, Personas are just a manifestation of another part of your heart then?" she asked. "Yeah, that sounds about right." I said.
We rested up a bit more and then headed back to the entrance. But just before we got to the room with the vent, I decided to grab a piece of loot, but to my surprise it turned into a treasure demon. Ryuko was just behind me as the demon emerged from its crystal, I took out my pistol and unloaded on it. Ryuko slashed at it some and the demon fell easily enough. "What was that?" she asked, looking at the crystal, which was on the floor, its luster fading away. "That was a treasure demon." I said as I picked it up. The crystal morphed into a bundle of bills and coins, just from the bill denominations I'd say it was around twenty thousand yen. "Woah!" Ryuko said, gawking at the stack of cash. "Well, here's your clothes money." I said, giving the cash to her. She accepted it gratefully, and we left the Palace for the day.
LeBlanc appeared once again, and I bent over as the physical toll of what I'd done caught up with me. Ryuko was next to me, and she stumbled over to my bed and sat down before she fell over. I slumped down next to her, and we laid there in silence for a while we caught our breath. "Damn, I'm all worn out." she said, "Me too." I said. I looked out the window and it was already dark out, but I heard Sojiro talking to a customer downstairs, so it couldn't be too late. I had wanted to take Ryuko out to some shops, but I think we were both too worn out to really do much of anything. So, we called it a night there and went to bed.
The next day Ryuko and I didn't find anyone we knew on the way to school. The classes went by quickly enough, some bullshit trivia and pure distilled boredom were the only things on the menu. But as the last class before what would have been study hall finished up, we at least got to leave the classroom, even if it was for some dumb assembly. Ms. Kawakami had just told us where our class was supposed to stand in the gym and people were milling about, waiting for the announcement to come for everyone to go.
I had been chatting with Ryuko when Ann looked back at us. "Hey, why don't we stick together on this one?" she asked. "Yeah, why not?" Ryuko answered, I mumbled in agreement, "All students please report to the gymnasium for a school assembly." the announcer said, and we all got up and went out.
The gym was packed full of students, but luckily there was enough room for us three to form a group. We were chatting about nothing in particular when Ann caught the eye of her friend Shiho. "Oh hey!" she said, waving over to her, "Guys I'll be right back, you've got to meet Shiho." Ann said, chasing after her friend. Once she was out of earshot, Ryuko turned towards me and said in a hushed tone, "Hey, I have a hunch and I need you to trust me." "Okay?" I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Is there a place here at school where we could enter the Palace in private?" Ryuko asked. "Up on the roof. Why though?" I asked. "I just have a hunch is all, and I think we can help Ann out if we bring her in with us after this assembly bullshit." Ryuko said. I could see that her eyes were filled with determination, so I agreed. Not that I had a solid plan yet to get Ann in the Palace to reawaken her powers, I wanted to think some more, but screw it.
Ann came back, dragging Shiho behind her and I noticed that Ryuko was making an extra effort to come off as charming as possible. We did have to convince Ann to come to the roof with us after all. Shiho on the other hand looked horrible, her demeanor was pleasant enough, but she had bandages and bruises all over like Mishima. I could also sense a small fraction of sadness in her eyes, and given what she had done before, I wanted to act fast before she attempted suicide again. She didn't deserve to go through that pain, and Ann didn't deserve the grief neither.
Soon enough the curtain on the stage was lifted, behind it were the five Council deputies, all lined up in a row and posed like soldiers. I looked up at Makoto, who was lockstep with the other four, but she was also in the middle of the stage, which either meant she had more power over the others or that I'm overthinking a stage direction. The five stood there for a while before Satsuki came marching onto the stage. Oddly enough I hadn't seen her in person before now, which was odd considering how small Shujin could sometimes be.
"Welcome, students of Shujin Academy to the introductory assembly of our student council. I have called you all here to make the announcement of new rules of conduct. I will read them to you now but there will also be posters of them hung up in the hallways. Any violation of these rules will result in appropriate punishment as determined by my deputies and new joint directors of student discipline, Makoto Nijima and Ira Gamagori." Satsuki said, Makoto looking fuller of herself.
Satsuki then started to read off these new rules, which banned basically every fun thing that could be imagined. No public displays of attraction, no gatherings of five or more students unless it was in a sanctioned activity, stricter uniform requirements, the works. There were so many rules and Satsuki read them so quickly that I got the impression that they were a smokescreen intended to allow for absolute control, a new rule here, a new rule there, all depending on how badly Satsuki, or her deputies, wanted to ruin your day.
She spent ages going on and on, but she eventually stopped and nodded to the left. Kamoshida walked onto the stage, and I could immediately tell that there was bad blood between himself and Satsuki. They eyed each other up like two leopards who were vying for the same piece of meat. I suppose it wasn't to be unexpected however, Kamoshida did view this place as his own castle, and Satsuki must be to him like an invader, a debasement of his own power, a thief.
Kamoshida began going off about the school's sports regimen. But that wasn't the important part I noticed. Satsuki was still center stage with him. She was staring him down with a sideways glance that could make any brave man cower. But despite this Kamoshida went on with his bit and at the end we were dismissed for the day.
I had a general idea on how to get Ann to the roof, but Ryuko decided to take the lead. Ann was saying goodbye to Shiho when Ryuko caught her attention. "Hey Ann, I was exploring the school yesterday with him." she said, pointing back at me as I joined the conversation, "We found something a little weird on the roof, wanna come see?" she said. "Uhm, okay?" Ann responded. Ryuko smiled and led the way towards the stairs. "What exactly did you find up there?" Ann asked, turning to me. "Oh, well it's a surprise!" I said as we reached the top. Ryuko pushed open the door to the roof which was fortunately unlocked. I pulled out my phone and opened the Nav. "So what di-" Ann began to say, but I had already began the navigation.
The castle appeared before us again, and Ann was staring up at it, Ryuko and I behind her. "What the hell is this?" Ann asked herself, eyes still locked on the castle. Ryuko nudged me, "Listen, this is going to be weird, but I need you to restrain her." "What?" I asked, "Just trust me!" Ryuko said as she went towards Ann. I couldn't exactly back out now, could I? I went up behind Ann, who was still staring up at the castle, and I pushed my arms between hers and her torso and got her in a hold by the shoulders.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Ann screamed as I leaned back, giving her less leverage over me. She tried to flail her arms, but she didn't have much control. She tried kicking me but that wasn't working either. Ryuko darted in front of her and took out her scissor blade. "RYUKO?" Ann shouted. "Get her closer to the ground." Ryuko said, I bent my knees and Ryuko reached into the air. I'm not sure how exactly she knew, but her hand wrapped around a blood red string that seemed to extend from the heavens right into Ann's scalp.
Ryuko lined up her blade and swung it. Ann screamed out, but the string was cut, and she went limp in my arms. I was shocked at what had happened. I laid her out on the ground, she seemed to be passed out. "What the hell was that?" I asked Ryuko, my tone more exasperated than I had wanted. "She was being mind-stitched by a life fiber. I cut the connection." Ryuko said casually, crossing her arms. "They can mind control people?" I asked, "Yes, whoever their master is can use life fibers to edit the memories of people, it happened to me once and it was terrible. But if the person controlling this fiber is also controlling fibers for everyone, that would explain why we are the only ones who remember the reversion in time." Ryuko said, "You know, that could make sense." I said, shifting my weight closer to her. Ryuko chuckled and hit me on the shoulder softly.
We moved Ann to a nearby bench and sat her down upright. "So, when you break the life fiber, what exactly happens?" I asked, motioning towards Ann. "Well, when I went through this, I remembered both the life and memories which were created for me and the past before I was brainwashed. So, I technically had lived two lives, but the actual one is still the clearest." she said, "Almost like Maruki." I muttered to myself. Ryuko stood by Ann for a while, "I think she should come to soon. But look at this." Ryuko said, waving me over. We stood by a section of the front wall, close by to Ann still. Ryuko felt around the wall, and she grasped another red thread, which before seemed to be invisible.
"So, this is a life fiber?" I asked, examining it more closely. "Yes, I thought I could sense them all around this place, but I wasn't entirely sure if I could interact with them. Ann was just a hunch." she said, letting go of the fiber, allowing it to blend in with the wall again. "That might explain why this palace is still standing then." I said, looking back up towards the towers of the castle. "How so?" Ryuko asked. "I'd need to talk with Morgana to check my logic, hell, Igor too, but this place, the Metaverse, is the manifestation of everyone's cognition, right?" I asked myself, Ryuko nodded along anyways.
"When we stole the Treasure of a Palace ruler, the Palace crumbled, we couldn't go back to it. But, even after liberating the world from Mementos, the Metaverse still existed somewhat, given what Maruki did." I said, turning back towards Ann, my hand rubbing my chin. "So, whatever happened in your universe." I said, turning towards Ryuko, "The fibers used the Metaverse to take hold of everyone's minds, and to do so they would need to rebuild everything to facilitate that control so that it's stable!" I said, finally getting it, "But the scale of which this happens on is so large that the fibers are weak and can be easily cut and thus their influence negated." I concluded.
"You know, that could be right." Ryuko said, smirking at me. I smiled back and was going to try and say something clever, but Ann moaned and sat up on the bench, her Thief gear having reappeared.
"… but I still look behind."
X
Author's Notes:
Hello! Thanks for all the nice responses to the first chapter. I'll just say that everything happens for a reason in this story and all I ask is that you just let me cook. I have the next few chapters written out but I'm still editing them and planning out the mid-game of this story in terms of specifics. So updates might not be all that frequent. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you get a great night's sleep! :)
