10/29 – Saturday
After School
Kasumigaseki District, Tokyo

The Tokyo District Courthouse was cold and statuesque, its concrete construction and solid foundation giving the entire building the appearance of a castle more than a courthouse. Ren doubted it was actually built to defend against invaders of any sort, but the appearance boded ill for their infiltration.

Sae's keyword was 'casino.' Maybe it was Ren's inexperience with gambling, or his unfortunate abundance of experience with Japan's legal system, or just his lack of distortion, but he just couldn't make it match in his head. The courthouse was a monolith, a mountain, a fortress. Something barren, a place where life could not maintain itself.

Ren forced his attention back towards his allies, just in time for Kasumi to pull away from hugging Ann to stand in front of him. "Your first time infiltr-infiltrating without me," she said, arms behind her back and a little mischievous smile dancing across her expression. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Ren chuckled. "Four Palaces without you and one with. It'll be a real tough adjustment, but I'm sure we'll manage."

Kasumi giggled. "I'm sure you will." She hopped forward and embraced him tightly, a comfort he gladly reciprocated. "Good luck, Ren."

"It's a casino," he quipped back. "We'll need all the luck we can get."

Akechi let out a quick breath from his spot nearby, just far enough away from the Thieves to keep up the toothless image of an outsider. Maybe it was meant to be a scoff, or a laugh. Ren couldn't tell.

Kasumi pulled away from Ren, turning towards the detective, towards her best friend. She crossed the distance between them. Akechi didn't so much as open his tense posture to her, still half-pivoted away, one gloved hand against his tie. But he watched her. Waiting, maybe.

Without a word, Kasumi reached into her pocket, pulled something out – Ren couldn't see what from his angle – and extended her closed hand to him. "You gave this to me because you tr-trusted me," she said. "It means a lot, it really does. And I hope you...that it makes sense, that I'm...that I trust you r-right back. So that's why..." She opened her fingers, and Ren caught a glint of late afternoon sunlight against the black plastic of a closed pocket knife. His breath froze in his throat.

Akechi looked more pale than usual. He let go of his tie, lowering his hand. "Am I...meant to assume that you trust me not to...use that against myself, then?" There wasn't an ounce of spite in his quiet tone. Not that Ren had expected anything of the sort. Akechi's sharpest edges had rarely been anything but plush-soft against her.

Kasumi shook her head, and then hesitated. "I...it's not that easy. I kn-know it's not. I wish that...I mean, I w-want you to be able to not...to not need to use it. But you..." She stared down at the tool, at the closed knife. "You talked about rest-restitution before, with the SRU. And I think, and maybe I'm wrong, but I think that you don't just want to do b-better. I think you want to be better."

She took a shuffle-step forward, extending the knife more insistently towards him. "I don't ever want you to forg-forget that I believe in you. I, if you'll, I mean, if you're okay with it..." Breath in, breath out. "You gave this to me bec-because you trusted me. And I think, I hope, you won't look at it again without...without rem-remembering that. Without remembering that I have faith in you."

Akechi stared at Kasumi, through her. A long few seconds of silence. He carefully, purposefully, reached up and took the knife from her, with a gentleness Ren hadn't seen from him before. Without a word, he pulled back the emblem pinned to the front of his coat and slipped the knife back into its pocket. As if it had never left. No, not like that. It had left. That absence, that return, made all the difference.

"I'll remember," he said. Calm and kind, yet firm. An odd, involuntary chuckle escaped the detective. "Between you and Amamiya, I've now two tokens of such faith I haven't yet paid back." The black king. And paid back...Ren wasn't sure exactly how to feel about that, but 'honored' was as good as anything. "I suppose I'd better work to find some way of...well, you understand." His focus flicked towards Ren for the briefest of moments, catching his gaze before darting back to Kasumi. "You'll take care of Sumire, won't you?"

Kasumi nodded, beaming across the short distance towards him. "I will. I will." She opened her arms slightly. "Hug?"

Akechi laughed. "As if you have to ask." He stepped into the embrace, returning it with his one free hand.

"Love you," Kasumi murmured, just barely audible.

Akechi mumbled something back, and this time Ren couldn't make out the words. But judging by the way Kasumi looked to cling even tighter to him, he was guessing it was something to a reciprocal effect.

A tap against his arm, and Ren stifled a flinch, glancing over to see Makoto watching the scene with pursed lips. "I don't mean to rush you, any of you. But we're..." She hesitated, like she wasn't exactly sure how to politely phrase what was no doubt an attempt to rush them.

"It's okay!" Kasumi chirped, squeezing Akechi tight for another solid second before pulling away. "I've got to get Sumire back h-home anyway. Dinnertime soon."

Ren found his own focus flicking towards the girl's sister, who was currently cradling Morgana like a particularly fluffy infant and listening with rapt attention to Haru's apparently detailed explanation of what Ren assumed, based on the snippets he could overhear, was something to do with the growth cycles of different vegetation.

Oh. Oh, Haru had the biggest, loveliest smile as she talked, full of life and excitement and stumbling over her own words and...holy shit. Ren committed the sight to memory, mentally writing himself a couple dozen reminders to ask his girlfriend about her crops more often.

"Sumire!" Kasumi said, throwing an unfortunate pause into the lovely scene. "Are you ready to head back?"

Sumire nodded once. "Yes. I believe so." She turned back to Haru. "My phone does not receive texts. Please message Kasumi about the result of your experimentation when you have the chance, and she will tell me about it. I am eager to hear if your squashes progressed as you predicted."

Haru giggled. "Certainly! I'll pass that along to her later tonight, I believe."

"No rush," Sumire said. She glanced down at the blissed-out cat in her embrace. "It is time to say farewell, Morgana. It was lovely to meet you properly. I expect I'll return you to your master now."

Morgana wriggled in her grasp, all thoughts of relaxation apparently abandoned. "Ren isn't my master," he grumbled. "I'm my own darn cat." He twisted around completely and scrambled up onto Sumire's shoulder – the girl seemed taken aback by the sudden movement, but didn't so much as flinch at it – before springboarding off it and into the nearby Ryuji's arms, who caught the cat with a resounding yelp.

"Hey!" Ryuji exclaimed, glaring down at the now sheepish-looking feline. "Warn a guy next time." Morgana grumbled out what seemed like an apology before settling into Ryuji's grasp.

"You have a very particular kitty," Sumire said, brushing the remnants of black fur off her outfit. "I hope he does not give you too much trouble."

Even though she wasn't looking towards Ren, it was a reasonable assumption she was addressing him. "Not much at all. I mean, all of us can be a handful sometimes, but Morgana's never asked more of us than we can handle."

"That's good," she said. Sumire threw a glance towards the feline. "Thank you for letting me hold you, Morgana. I appreciate your fluffiness." Her focus turned towards Kasumi, as Morgana let out a resounding and delighted-sounding purr. "I am ready to go now."

Kasumi giggled, slipping her way through the throng of Thieves – lingering for a few breaths too long next to Futaba – before taking Sumire's hand in hers. "Text me later!" she called over her shoulder. It could have been directed towards any of them, or all of them.

"We will," Yusuke assured. "Farewell for now, our friends."

And with that, the Thieves silently watched the two sisters make their way down the sidewalk away from them. Ten masks became nine.

"I assume that closes our business in reality for the time being," Akechi said, finally pulling the collective attention away from their departing ally. "We shouldn't keep Niijima waiting." Whether he meant Makoto or Sae, it didn't truly matter. He was right either way.

Makoto herself nodded, an odd balance of stoicism and unease caught in her eyes. She raised her phone, flicking over to the MetaNav. Deep breath. "Sae Niijima. Tokyo District Courthouse." A flicker of azure in those near-crimson irises. "Casino." And reality pitched to the left.


10/29 – Saturday
After School
Sae's Palace

It took the better half of a dozen seconds for Ren's eyes to adjust to the blinding lights spilling down the road towards them. The buildings around them were as mundane as ever, but the courthouse itself...gaudy was the only description he could manage.

An enormous neon-lit statue of a blindfolded woman in a bright red dress took up the entire previously-empty courtyard, holding a pair of enormous scales in one hand and a pair of dice in the other. Lady luck, or blind justice? Or both, perhaps. Some twisted amalgamation.

Even the scales themselves were distorted, balanced at first glance but rigged at a second, as the left side was holding the weight of a vertical neon sign – Ren's English wasn't the strongest, but even he could read the message: "win big."

The building itself was similarly colorful, concrete pillars abandoned for an arrangement of stained glass and bright signs. The main section of the courthouse had been decorated to look like a slot machine stuck at "777," with neon-sign coins spilling out the sides.

Another glance around at their immediate surroundings. "It doesn't look like Sae's distortion reaches out this far," Ren noted. "I don't see any Shadows, either. Oracle?" He turned towards his sister, only to see...Futaba. Standing there in her normal green coat, looking a little perplexed. "Oh. Uh, right. Looks like...she doesn't see us as enemies yet, right?" He threw a glance towards Mona, who was still in Ryuji's arms despite being far more unbalanced in his Metaversal form.

"Um," Mona said, and tilted his head subtly towards another section of the group. Like he was trying to clue Ren towards...oh.

Queen sighed, adjusting the boxing wrap on her right hand, eyes cold behind her iron mask. "Sae doesn't see any of you as enemies. It looks like she considers me an exception." The only one of the nine of them, besides Mona, whose mask had materialized.

Ann winced. "That's...I mean, maybe it's–"

"Distortion begets paranoia," Akechi cut in, silencing Ann's messy attempt at reassurance. "No doubt, Miss Niijima would identify her sole sibling, the person most aware of her weaknesses, as a potential threat. The one most capable of undoing her distortion." A little plastic smile. "Am I incorrect?"

"I wouldn't bet against that," Queen replied. "Your logic is sound. I don't doubt you're entirely right." Her lips pursed into a sharp line. "I suppose it's nice to know she has some confidence in me." A sarcastic little lilt, a bitterness that fit her unflatteringly.

Haru frowned, taking a step closer. "Queen? We can pace ourselves, you know. Come back another day, or–"

"No," she said, with a quick and desperate sharpness that made Ren feel like flinching. "I'm fine. This...I won't turn back. I won't turn away." Queen faced the casino, her sister's Palace. "I'm done being complacent." And she started walking.

By the time Ren managed to articulate a response in his head, managed to find the words to put to his assurance that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't need to assume responsibility for her sister's choices, Queen had already made it halfway down the block.

Ren grit his teeth and forced out a sigh. "Alright. Queen's...taking point, looks like. Panther – er, Ann – you should keep her company there." Not as much of a strategic decision as...well, in the event that Queen started making unwise decisions, it'd be best to have Ann as close to her as possible. "Ryuji and Mona, you'll be our other vanguards." The trio mumbled out their affirmations, rushing ahead to catch up with their runaway advisor, Ryuji still cradling the feline. "Akechi–"

"I'll stick with you, I assume?" the detective interrupted with a smug little smirk. "I do need a vantage point to observe the Thieves' approach, after all. If I am to...adjust to your methods of doing things."

Ren did his best to stifle the urge to fire back in kind, limiting himself to a toothless glare. "Yeah. You'll be with me, Haru and Yusuke in the rearguard. It'll take some time to integrate you into our playbook; Futaba, I'll leave that to you." Quick nods from all addressed. "Keep on your toes." In lieu of his missing gloves, Ren adjusted his glasses, grimacing at the unsatisfying fidget. "Okay. Let's get moving."


The Palace's main entrance was crowded with cognitions going both in and out, and flanked by bulky Shadows – the first they'd seen so far. Queen had finally slowed her pace; she and the rest of the vanguard had taken a vantage point off to the left and were keeping a careful eye on the open front door. While Ryuji, Haru and Ann kept their focus on the entrance itself, Queen's attention drifted, staring idly off towards a quiet, darker section of the casino's exterior. Maybe scanning for an alternate entrance?

"Is it just me, or do these cognitions look... human?" Ryuji asked, throwing a quick glance down towards Mona.

The cat nodded, frowning at the scene. "I don't think they're immune from the distortion. They definitely don't smell human. But I can't see anything...wrong with them."

"Look closer," Akechi said. "Miss Niijima may not see those who attend the courthouse as anything more than people, but there is something very wrong with this picture." He motioned to the entrance. "I expect that rightmost door to be some manner of VIP entrance. And look at the sorts of 'people' entering it."

Ren squinted towards the entrance. Sure enough, though he hadn't noticed it before, the entryway was split in two vectors of ingress, the left of which was far larger than the right. The vast majority of cognitions both entered and exited through that left door, despite the density of the crowd, taking a molasses-slow pace as a result.

The right door though, sequestered from the left by a velvet rope, was occupied by a steady stream of cognitions in matching outfits, each one with a plain black suit, holding a briefcase in one hand.

"Are those lawyers?" Yusuke asked, incredulity clear in his tone.

"Prosecutors," Queen said. "All of them given preferential treatment."

"Ah," Haru said, an odd half-wince in her tone. "That's right, this is a courthouse after all. And Miss Niijima is a prosecutor herself."

"If they're all prosecutors, where's the defense?" Futaba asked. "I don't see anyone else dressed like that in the crowd."

Without a word, Queen pointed to the far side of the Palace where the neon lights did not touch, a relative void compared to the well-lit entrance. Ren could see a steady procession through the dark. Men and women in suits...and chains, dragged by Shadow guards up a flight of stairs up into what seemed to be the Palace proper.

"What the fuck," Ann muttered.

"I see," Akechi said, rubbing his chin with a gloved hand. "Miss Niijima was somewhat fond of the saying that defense attorneys were shackled to their clients. I simply did not expect her cognition to express it so...literally."

"That's our way in," Queen said, her tone unyielding. "The front entrance would raise alarms. Let's go." Without waiting for a single confirmation, she cut a path towards the staircase.

Ren choked down a frustrated sigh. "Yeah. Let's." And waited for Ryuji, Ann and Mona to catch up with their runaway teammate before leading the rest of the Thieves after them.

"Is anyone going to say anything, or are we just going to let her keep wandering off?" Futaba griped.

"I think we're all waiting for her to get adjusted," Haru responded, flashing a sympathetic smile over her shoulder. "I can only speak for myself, but I was rather erratic during our first expeditions into my father's Palace as well."

Yusuke replied with a quiet hum. "I agree with Futaba here, actually. Growing pains are certainly far from abnormal with new Thieves and new infiltrations, but Queen isn't a new Thief. And, I believe, if any new Thieves had pulled us along in such a manner, that would have been a point for potential contention."

Haru nodded, her expression falling into solemnity. "...yes. I'm sorry, you're both absolutely right." Her gaze followed Queen up the stairs, watching the distant Phantom blow her way through a few surprised Shadows as if they were nothing but speedbumps. "I want to give Queen the benefit of the doubt. I knew her before I became a Thief, and she's been a part of your team far longer than most. I want to believe that she'll come around on her own." Her lips pursed. "But if she won't..." Haru let the implication trail off into nothing, and Ren did his best not to shudder at the awful glint of cold determination in her warm eyes.

"And yet, your leader remains silent," Akechi chimed in. "Oh, sorry, our leader." He chuckled. "Still getting used to that."

Ren bit back a scowl. They were all correct. Queen was being uncharacteristically irresponsible, potentially dragging the rest of the Thieves along into a dangerous situation as a result. Even if she had the prerogative to take point here, even if she had the most to both gain and lose by their success, even if she had the most experience with Sae's cognition...this behavior, if nothing else, was beyond inappropriate for someone in her position.

But instinct said otherwise. Oh, it agreed with his reasons for bitterness, no dissent there. His conclusion, though, it took exception to. No qualms with intervention itself, but any such decision should be held until it was the right time to do so. Shoving Queen out of her current fury would only serve to turn the schism between her and the Thieves into a chasm.

They could bear a little risk, they'd done so before to great dividends. But the physical or psychological loss of an entire Thief under such circumstances? They'd be signing their own epitaphs. Even if Queen, if Makoto, was being a fucking idiot right now when she knew the Thieves were behind her, there was no telling just how reckless she'd act if they weren't.

"We stay the course," Ren said. And, to make clear what was better left unspoken. "For now."


While the defense attorney cognitions continued onward down a long corridor into what must have been a distorted analog for this place's courtrooms, Queen had taken an immediate sharp right as soon as she'd made it inside, leading the Thieves up another staircase and a pair of ladders to make it up to the rafters.

She'd said before that she hadn't entered Sae's Palace, but now Ren was finding himself wondering if she actually had, if Queen had taken some manner of shallow investigation into the casino before today. Maybe that's why she'd been seen as an enemy the second she entered the Palace, maybe that's why she seemed so self-assured...

Ren shook his head. No. Focus. Queen wasn't exactly reliable at the moment, but he still trusted her. She was still his friend. It wouldn't help anything but his own paranoia to second-guess her to that degree. Besides which, if she really had done something like that, she could at least stand to be less suspicious–

A pulse of azure flame interrupted his thoughts, throwing a stall into his step. His vision was momentarily eclipsed by blue, and Ren found his senses sharpening. The familiar feeling of his mask settling onto his face.

Sure enough, when the fire cleared from his sight, it didn't take more than a glance down at his own red-gloved hands to see that his Phantom garb had manifested. By the looks of things, the others had been similarly graced with their Thief outfits, and looked just as surprised by it.

Ren glanced past them to see Queen with a surprised expression, one hand on the door in front of them – marked 'Employees Only' – having frozen in the middle of opening it.

"Er," she said, finally. "I didn't...expect that to happen. Um. Sorry?"

Ren found himself laughing before his thoughts could catch up with his body, an awkward full-body chuckle that echoed across some of the other Thieves. Yeah. Even now, even as erratic and cold and closed-off as Queen was...she was still Queen. The same clumsy genius she'd always been.

"Well, at least we can all defend ourselves now," he said with a smile. "We can't have you taking all the glory, Queen."

She didn't quite smile back, but she almost did. Like a half-smirk, before she turned back around and slipped through the door, leaving it open for the rest of them.

"Uh," Futaba – Oracle – muttered. "You're wearing that again?"

Ren turned to the focus of her judgment and almost jumped out of his skin at the cold eyes behind that mask. Behind that red mask. Akechi was once again wearing the ostentatious white, red and gold outfit he'd greeted them with that day in Mementos.

The detective adjusted the crimson cape around his neck, firing back with a calm smile. Ren forced himself not to fixate on the red fabric of his cuffs, not to focus on the memory of that tan suit stained with a far darker shade. "I hate to keep repeating myself," he said. "But you were listening to what I said yesterday, yes? I'm holding myself to a Thief's standards." His gaze drifted off towards the door, and he started walking again. "I don't think the mask of a murderer would be very...appropriate, considering that. Wouldn't you agree?"

Ren stutter-stepped a hurried pace to catch up with the boy, noting the double-takes that Panther and Skull were making over their respective shoulders. "They're both your masks. We'd accept you either way; you know that, right?" Akechi didn't respond, just kept his focus forward.

"There's also something to be said about honest expression of self," Noir chirped, leaning forward and sending the detective a venom-sweet smile. "Though I'm sure I wouldn't know anything about that, hm?"

Akechi scoffed out a laugh. "Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't, Okumura," he replied in a tone somewhere between bitterness and mirth.

"And something to be said about that garish color scheme," Fox added, fingers posed to form a picture frame. "White definitely isn't your color."

A breath escaped through the detective's grit teeth. "Everyone's a critic," Akechi muttered.

Ren stifled a laugh, rushing to change the subject before Akechi was tempted to get casually stabby with his new teammates. "Speaking of a Thief's standards," he said. "I think we forgot to address this yesterday. If you're working with us, you should probably come up with a codename for yourself."

Akechi started mid-step. "Ah, yes, of course. I'd forgotten about that." He turned slightly, gaze pivoting across the nearby Thieves. "If I recall, yours don't fit much of a theme, do they?"

Ren shrugged. "I don't think so. I mean, Joker and Queen are both playing cards, I guess."

"Panther and I are named after animals," Fox added.

"And Mona's is just his nickname," Oracle said. "Oh, Violet and Noir are both color names."

"Most of us tend to base our codenames off our masks," Noir noted. "Skull, Panther and Fox in particular, Oracle somewhat; myself as well, though only incidentally so."

"Well," Akechi said, "I suppose those categories do leave me with some options." He chuckled. "I doubt you would sign off on 'Ace,' would you?"

"Like ace detective?" Oracle asked, scrunching up her nose. "I mean, it's not bad, but it's kind of on the nose."

"Yes, I realized that the moment I said it," Akechi replied, almost grimacing out the words.

"Perhaps 'Cyrano' would fit better?" Fox offered. "Though, that would be on the nose as well, in a different way."

Queen, from farther ahead, burst out laughing with an abruptness that made Ren flinch. "I'm sorry," she said, sending a smile over her shoulder. "I couldn't help but overhear."

Akechi chuckled as well. "de Bergerac is hardly an unflattering comparison, though it would be a bit of a tasteless one." He reached up and flicked the tip of his own mask's long nose. "Perhaps we should pick a less pretentious reference."

"Yeah man," Skull added. "Dumb it down for the rest of us. Just because Queen's a super genius doesn't mean the rest of us aren't brick-stupid."

"Speak for yourself!" Mona growled.

Panther burst out laughing. "Your other mask was...sort of a beak, right? Maybe a bird name. Like...Robin?"

"That's his other Persona," Ren noted. "Robin Hood, I mean. We could totally go with it, but–"

"No, you're right, that's redundant," Akechi said. Though both his pace and voice were slower, more thoughtful. As if the suggestion had struck a chord. "Corvus. No, too sharp. Then...Crow will do."

"Crow?" Noir echoed, a soft yet solemn tone to her voice. "I expect that's a name with some significance to you?"

"It is," Akechi said, and elaborated nothing further. "But you all are the final arbiters, are you not? Does such a name fit your standards?"

Ren found himself chuckling and he wasn't entirely sure why. "It meets yours. That's the only arbitration we need. Welcome to the team, Crow."

"And here I thought I was a part of your ranks already," Akechi – Crow – chuckled. "How capricious you are, Joker." He cracked his neck, before nodding farther down the rafters, where a patrol of Shadows had just turned the corner. "We have company."

"I see them," Queen said, cracking her knuckles. "Joker, your word."

Word, and not call. Regardless, Ren would give it. "Phantoms, scramble! Let's give them hell!"


After the three back-to-back slogs fighting against security, security's backup, and the fucking calvalry in the rafters, Ren felt a little bit like he was starting to catch his boyfriend's claustrophobia. Fighting in cramped quarters against swarms of Shadows was likely to be abjectly unpleasant at the best of times, and these weren't anywhere close to the best of times.

"Sorry," Queen mumbled for the seventeenth time, wincing as the maskless Panther ran a green-glowing hand across her wounded arm.

"Don't apologize," Panther chided, glaring at her crush. "Just stop being so reckless."

Reckless was right. Queen had thrown her arm out with one of her own punches during the second wave of reinforcements. She'd refused to pull back even through the pain, calling Johanna's name until her voice broke. No one else had suffered more than a brief scratch. But Queen's injuries were...if not drastic, then frightening.

Footsteps by his left side. "Shall we continue to stay the course, leader?" Crow asked, a little smirk behind that crimson mask.

Ren grit his teeth. It wasn't the right time. He knew it in his bones, echoing across every calcified cell. But he wanted nothing more than to cross the distance between himself and Queen, grab her by the collar and make explicitly clear he could no longer abide by her bullshit. But instincts said to stay the course. So... "We stay."

"Hm," Crow replied. He sheathed his blue-glowing saber, adjusting his cape yet again. "If we continue at such a pace, I doubt I'll work up much of a sweat by the time we reach Niijima's treasure. But Queen, on the other hand...I'm not sure she'll even make it there."

Ren forced himself to keep breathing through the pulse of bitter spite that threatened to eclipse his better judgment. "Are you suggesting something, Crow?"

"I wasn't," the detective said. "But now I am. Perhaps, if Queen refuses to pace herself, then the only way to force her to slow down is to eliminate her threats before she can address them."

It made sense. Matching Queen's pace was a logical strategy, even if it risked some significant burnout. Would she allow that? If they tried, wouldn't Queen just push herself twice as hard, risk even more, get even more hurt?

Ren shook his head. His brain was melting from anxiety. He needed a second opinion. "Noir," he said, and his girlfriend slipped across the distance between them in half the span of a breath. "You heard Crow's suggestion, right? What do you think?"

Noir tilted her head, lips twisting into a thoughtful curve. "I think the strategy is sound, but I'm not sure it would work." Her vision flicked towards Panther. "I don't believe Queen is pushing herself out of vanity or pride. I think she's scared. She wants to protect the rest of us from harm, from what her sister is capable of."

Ren felt a cold chill caress his spine. Fuck. He hadn't even considered that. "Got it," he said, trying to fill the two words with as much unspoken gratitude as he could muster. If Noir hadn't been as sharp as she was, and Ren hadn't asked for her input... "We'll try Crow's suggestion, but let's also give Queen less to worry about. Keeping her favorite people off the front lines should help."

He raised his voice, calling out to the other Thieves, cutting through the mumbling gossip at the corners of their ranks. "Panther, Mona, Skull; pull back! Crow, Fox and I will be taking point!" He turned away from the storm of nervous glances and nodded to Crow, lowering his voice again. "I don't want to...I mean, okay, you...didn't summon your Persona at all, last battle. I don't know if that was on purpose, or just...if you need anything, just ask, okay? I don't want you pushing yourself past what you can handle." It wasn't his most graceful offer of support, but it was probably better than nothing.

Crow's gaze was momentarily sharp, a bulwark blade, before he broke into a chuckle and smile. "I suppose it was bold of me to expect you wouldn't notice me slacking. My apologies." Slacking, huh? A too-easy lie. "I have no intention of hiding behind excuses, though." Akechi ran his gloved fingers across his mask with what was almost gentleness. "Next time you give the order, I promise you, I will show you exactly what I am capable of handling."

Ren bit the inside of his cheek. Animosity continued to boil in the air between them. Whatever Crow's reasons were or had been, whatever resistance he refused to grant a name to, Ren was pretty sure the detective would still pull more than his weight. He wouldn't allow himself to get hurt, that would be too much of a blow against his pride, right? It wasn't more than a guess on Ren's part, but it still felt fine enough trusting in Akechi. As a teammate, if nothing else.

"Alright," Ren said. "Let's keep moving."


Oracle swore under her breath and smacked at the keypad in the wall with a frustrated growl. "Since when do prosecutors learn cognitive web security!? This thing has firewalls for its firewalls, and it's bullshit!" She flipped her goggles up and glared at Queen. "Your sis's brain is unhackable and I'm going to keep on being mad at you until you fix it."

They'd made it through the maze of rafters and tunnels without any further issue, and the locked door and its keypad were the only obstacles between them and the casino proper. Unfortunately, that locked door was giving them more than a bit of trouble.

Queen didn't meet Oracle's frustrated gaze, instead focusing on the keypad itself. "How many characters?" she asked, her voice strained and unsteady, like she didn't want to know the answers.

"Five," Oracle said immediately. "Why? Do you know the code?"

Without a word, Queen reached around the girl and typed out a quintet of numbers. '23498.' The keypad pulsed, processing the code, before shining a bright and giddy green, the door before them unlocking itself with a resonant click.

"Yeah," Queen said. "Dad used that code all the time. It was his default, I guess." She scooted past Oracle and pushed open the door. "Sae picked up the habit too, after he died." Without another word, she slipped through into the bright lights and wall of sound that was the casino.

Ren heard a sharp intake of breath behind him, and he pivoted mid-step to glance over at Panther, who was leaning in to whisper something to Noir. He didn't catch much of it, but he could make out two words. "–her birthday–"

23rd of April, 1998. Makoto's birthday. Ren's focus drifted, following Queen on automatic as his mind danced around possibilities. Sae was the eldest, but their father had used Makoto's birthday as his password. The implications of that were clear, if distressing. But the fact that Sae had picked up the habit? That was downright perplexing, considering the way Makoto had described their relationship before. Ren could totally imagine setting his own passwords to Futaba's birthday, but it didn't make sense for someone who had treated her younger sibling with such contempt.

"It wasn't a part of me I wanted any of you to see."

"Sojiro tells me you're an accomplished academic as well. Planning on giving my sister a run for her money?"

"Home has been pretty awful this week. I just keep...I keep getting in arguments with her, and she's busy, and angry all the time, and I just feel...awful, and bitter, and sick, and...and guilty."

There was something that didn't add up here. More than the distortion, more than the cognitive dissonance that a Palace brought, there was something he was missing. Some puzzle piece, some cipher, some context that would unite all those disparate facts.

There was something Makoto wasn't telling them.

"Well well well, look who it is." A smooth voice laced with cyanide saccharine, twinged with an all-too-familiar distortion.

Queen froze. Ren stumbled to a stop inches from her, glancing past to see a woman with...yellow eyes, flanked by two Shadow guards. Ah.

"Sis," Queen whispered, her voice chillingly empty.

"Makoto," the woman purred. "How lovely of you to drop by."

Sae Niijima's Shadow did resemble the woman, but only at a lingering examination. A passing glance wouldn't have been enough for Ren to identify her through the heavy eye-shadow that nearly resembled a dark mask resting on her features. The one time he'd met the prosecutor in person, though he couldn't quite recall her outfit in full, he vaguely remembered that she'd been wearing something sharp and subtle. But this? This was unquestionably ostentatious.

A black sheer dress, long enough to pool around her ankles, all the way up to a spiked choker on her neck. While her shoulders were bare, Sae's Shadow did have long black gloves that reached past her elbow. Sae's hair was somewhat understated, tucked into her wide-brimmed black hat until barely a few locks were visible. But the strands that were...not the notable silver he'd seen in reality, but a muted brown, very similar to Makoto's hair color. Hm. Maybe that distinction wasn't important, but it seemed like it.

"Oh, Goro, is that you?" Sae's Shadow crooned. "Don't tell me you've bought into my sister's foolish little crusade. I expected better from you."

Crow laughed, a sharp little thing. "Miss Niijima, don't take this the wrong way. I've joined no such crusade; though, I'm sure you'll find Makoto's reasoning far more compelling than simple spite." A nod towards Queen that she did not return. "I am here because I have evaluated the reality of your actions, as well as my own culpability in prosecutorial proceedings." A wild smirk, so much more like a killer than a prince. "I'm sure you have had your doubts about your own methods, those backroom deals and default judgements."

When Sae did not reply, Crow continued. "Tadakuni, Chihiro, Setsuna, Kaede, Anri; don't tell me you feel satisfied with the outcomes of those trials?" None of the names rang a bell to Ren, but Sae's yellow eyes narrowed at the quintet. She definitely recognized them. " Do you genuinely feel you can turn a blind eye to such miscarriages of justice? Can you honestly say you won those judgements...what's the phrase you're so fond of? Fair and square?

Sae's Shadow let the echoes of Crow's words fade before she let loose a mocking little giggle. "Goro, Goro, Goro. You know me better than that, don't you?" Her lips twisted into a vicious smirk. "Of course I can. The guilty received their dues." She flicked her hand dismissively. "The methods employed are irrelevant. My record, my victories, speak for themselves."

"Yes," Crow said, quietly. "I agree, they do."

Queen let out a sharp breath. "Enough," she said. "You know why we're here." Her voice was firm, but a shudder traced through her tone.

"You mean to take my desires from me," Sae's Shadow replied. "Yes, I'm aware. The very core of this world, the basis upon which it is constructed." She reached behind her back, into her dress, and pulled out a small object, a little notebook barely larger than her own hand, and Ren tensed.

"Mona," he said. "Is that it?" Even without Yu's glasses to clue him in, he could almost feel the power radiating off the thing, filling the air with a silent and warbling tension.

Mona yelped at nothing. "Yeah! That's her Treasure!" Ren could hear him scrambling back and forth in some manner of idle mania.

"A police notebook," Crow muttered. "Fascinating." A bitter ounce of recognition in his tone. Did he know what this was? Wait...police notebook. Wasn't Makoto's father...

"Sis," Queen breathed, almost a plea.

"Or, perhaps you're here for another reason." Sae returned the notebook to her dress, smirking across the distance towards her sibling. "After all, this is a casino. We deal in luck. And what could be more lucky than the two of us meeting here, of all places?" The Shadow swept a hand towards the bustling casino, and all eyes followed the motion. There was a golden plinth supporting an enormous statue of similar aural hue at the center of this entrance hall. A golden pair of very familiar looking glasses, the left lens of which had been shattered.

Queen's tense posture fridigified. "Sae." Another breath, another plea, but this one was far more desperate. Frightened. "Don't. Please, don't."

"After all," Sae's Shadow continued, a wicked glint in her yellow eyes. "What could be more poetic than my own baby sister meeting me here, at the site of her memorial, to repair that bridge that she burnt between us!?" Her tone was giddy now, little hints of laughter escaping between those quick breaths, her smile wide and wild.

The site of her memorial. Ren's breath shuddered in his lungs. Those were Makoto's glasses, weren't they? And the bridge she burnt...he was still missing something, something big and vital, but the rest of the pieces were starting to fall into place. And the picture they painted was starting to turn his stomach.

If he could tell anything from the horror painted across Queen's gaunt expression, then the truth here was the worse end of what he could reasonably predict.

Queen let out a shaky breath, head lowered. "I'm not here to repair anything." Her voice was low, strained and stained through with abject fury. "It's not my fault. What happened to you, to me, it wasn't...Dad isn't my fault." She whipped her gaze up, eyes shining with azure tears and crimson fury. "You're the one who told me I was dead to you, not the other way around. You're the one who keeps clinging to his memory!" Her closed fist ignited in an incandescent hum, like the roar of a distant engine. "So if you really care about...about me being your sister again," wincing out the word, "then give me the notebook. Let's...we can talk this out. Just...let me in."

Sae's Shadow was silent. Watching her, as if the Thieves were invisible, as if it were only the two of them in the world. "And you would drop your little ploy if I did?" she said, calm as a serpent. "I doubt it." Spitting out the words. "You can't even make that plea without showing your true self." She nodded with a sneer towards Queen's right hand, towards the pulsing pale star that had eclipsed her grip. "Our father's golden child, his violent little girl. You always were a bully. Even now, you're just like he was. A monster."

A flash of heat against the right side of Ren's face, and a bolt of azure flame shot past him, inches from his ear. Sae's Shadow pivoted immediately to the left, one of her Shadow guards rushing in front of the spell. In the blink of an eye, that single Shadow was immolated, drenched in furious blue fire.

"Kindly shut the fuck up about our teammate." Panther's voice, and Ren felt a giddy chill tip-toe the length of his spine. He glanced over to see the young woman, maskless, blue eyes shining with the flame that still danced across her fingertips. "You might be her sister, but you don't know the first thing about Makoto. So, if you're not going to hand over your Treasure?" A fireball leapt to her palm. "Get out of my goddamn sight before I do something you'll regret."

Sae's Shadow watched her minion melt into a dark puddle, not saying a word. "Very well," she finally replied. "Makoto," and Queen flinched, "I'll leave the VIP elevator open for you. If you decide to join me on the executive floor...well, I'll be waiting. I'm sure you'll make it there one way or another." Another sneering smile, and Sae traced the brim of her hat between two gloved fingers. "Best of luck, high rollers."

And with that, she stepped back and faded into nothing, shimmering steadily out of sight. The remaining Shadow guard vanished as well, leaving only the remains of the slain foe.

Ren let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Fuck," he muttered, reaching up to twist a strand of hair between two fingers, his shuddering grip almost yanking the lock from his scalp.

"My thoughts exactly," Crow said, his voice quiet and near-empty. Like he'd been shaken by the sight of his former coworker in such a state.

Fox hummed an anxious thought, and reached out to his silent, frigid teammate. "Queen? Are you–"

Queen shrugged off his touch. "We've got our invitation," she said, her low voice halfway to a bitter snarl. "Let's go." Without another word, she vaulted the nearby railing and began to scale her way down to the ground floor.

Ren didn't hold back his irritation this time, chaining half a dozen curses under his breath before hopping over the railing himself. "Be careful, everyone," he said, the most concern he could spare with his vision halfway to red.

The rest of the Thieves followed suit, and he could hear some mumbling reassurance exchanged between Noir, Skull and Panther. A glance showed the lattermost young woman looking a stiff breeze away from tears, hugging herself tight and staring at the floor. All earlier fury had evaporated.

Ren had the urge to fall back, to add his own reassurance, to be the anchor for Panther the way she'd grounded him so many times before. But Queen was already halfway across the casino floor by the time he reached the ground. She wasn't giving any of them time to breathe, let alone process through the shit that had just been dropped on their collective laps.

"I hate to be a broken record," Crow said, a step behind him. "But–"

"We stay the course," Ren snapped. "I know. I fucking know." He ran a hand back through his hair. "Trust me, however much you hate watching this? I fucking hate it more. It's...it's all I can do to not just drag Queen out of this fucking Palace, even if I have to knock her out to do it. But she won't listen to me, I know she won't. Not now. She...I don't know. But it's not the right time."

Fox, having caught up with them sometime during Ren's anxious rant, sighed. "I trust your instincts, Joker. Implicitly, I swear I do. But I fear we may soon be approaching a point of no return. Perhaps...just this once, it may be prudent to..." He trailed off, and it didn't take a detective to see what had distracted him.

"This area is for registered members only," the bulky Shadow between them and the room helpfully labeled 'Members Only' said, arms crossed. "I'm going to need to see some identification."

"Sure," Queen said, a smooth and amicable chirp immediately undermined by the shattering of her iron mask. "Freidyne." An ethereal engine roared, and a bolt of energy slammed into the guard, sending it sprawling across the floor into the members area. Queen spat on the floor between them as cognitions scrambled to get out of the way, the air filling with murmuring fear and worry. "The name's Makoto Niijima. That enough identification for you!?"

Woah. Ren could definitely appreciate how badass this side of Queen was, in a vacuum. But that didn't change the fact that tens of guards were now pouring out of side rooms, descending on the Thieves, already melting away into duel-wielding leopard men and Norse women astride fearsome steeds.

It didn't change that they were out in the open, and Queen was barely moving to defend herself from the newfound threat.

Ren grit his teeth and shoved forward, breaking into a dead sprint. "Crow, Fox, to me! Rearguard, watch our flank! Let's go!" He yanked his mask off his face with stinging haste. "Arsene, now!"

"Vorpal Blade." A flash of steel caught the lights of the casino, sending an iridescent neon cascade in every direction as the gentleman thief sent a jarring scar into every present foe. Too shallow to bring them down, but enough to stall them, to create an opening.

"Persona!" The twang of a bowstring. Familiar, almost. And one of the Shadows in their way burst, popping like a balloon as an arrow the size of a sword slammed through them, tearing their form apart in an instant.

Queen whirled towards the source of the attack, eyes wide, and Ren followed her gaze to see Crow, maskless, standing with a prideful little smirk. And by his side, already nocking another arrow, was the Persona he'd seen before in Mementos. Robin Hood.

Despite himself, Ren found a smile on his lips as he turned back towards the threat at hand. "I had a feeling you were holding out on us, Crow. Nice to see you finally pulling your weight." He yanked Ryuji's pistol from its holster and unloaded the clip into an advancing Valkyrie, sending the woman toppling off her horse as both melted away into nothing.

A pair of twangs, and two more of the feline demons exploded in a cascade of Shadow dust. "I'd say I'm pulling far more than my fair share, Joker. Wouldn't you agree?" Crow dove into Ren's peripheral vision, slashing his way through a third demon with nothing more than his azure saber, cutting the beastman down to size without any apparent difficulty.

"Goemon!" Fox's voice rang out sharp and clear. Frost skittered across the carpeted floor and engulfed the Shadows nearest to Queen, literally freezing them in their tracks. "Queen, you're quite surrounded! Now would be a good time to pull back!"

Queen straightened upright. She cracked her neck. A skill card splintered in her hand. Her mask shattered. "Johanna. End them." And she raised her right fist up before bringing it down onto the floor, punching the ground with thunderous might.

Ren was momentarily blinded by a flare of pale blue light, screeching like a resurrecting star, a nuclear phoenix rising.

The new star faded. There was a web of splintering cracks in the casino's floor, like a meteor had cratered through the carpet and concrete. Queen stood back up, alone, as twenty Shadows dissolved into nothing around her. "VIP elevator is just ahead," she said, her voice hoarse. Her right hand was shaking. "Come on." And she kept walking.

Ren waited for his breath to catch back up with him. When it didn't, he shoved himself forward anyway. One foot in front of the other.

Stay the course. Queen's pace did not budge, despite the way she looked exhausted enough to collapse on the spot. Stay the course. Footsteps behind him, a form pushing past, but he kept his focus on Queen's back. Stay. The. Fucking. Course.

Queen stopped moving, and Ren froze in place. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, her voice low, sharp as an icicle and twice as cold.

Skull scoffed. "The fuck does it look like I'm doing? I'm putting my foot down, Makoto." He was standing in front of the elevator, arms crossed. Blocking the way.

"Ah," Queen said, and then burst out laughing. "Look, Skull. I understand. You want to fight your boyfriend's battles," Ren flinched involuntarily, his breath filling with furious bile, "and I don't blame you for that. But he's your leader, remember?" She threw a cold glance over her shoulder towards Ren, and his stomach churned at the bitter glint in her gaze. "Even if he's angry at me, it's not your call to make. It's his."

"Fuck off, Queen," Ren snapped. "This isn't some power struggle. We're your friends, not...just...stop treating us like we're out to get you."

Fuck instinct. Fuck instinct, fuck the compulsion to shut his mouth and stay in his lane and let Queen burn herself out into an early grave. Skull was fucking right, and that overwhelming confirmation screaming in his ears could go...confirmation?

Ren blinked. Instinct was on board. Every ounce of impulse was fixated on Skull, bellowing out its approval, making explicitly clear that this was not only an acceptable outcome but the best one.

He hadn't been waiting for the right time to speak up. He'd been waiting for the right person.

"Damn right," Skull added. "I'm not speaking for Joker here, this is all me. Renren can fight his own battles, and if he wants to let you cavalier into some bullshit and drag us with you, then...fucking fine. Whatever. But I'm putting my foot down here."

"Oh?" Queen said, her low tone as clear a threat as anything. Ren's hand found the hilt of Anachronism's sheathed dagger. "Well, if you have some grievances to air, then be my guest. I'm all ears, Skull."

He growled out a sigh. "You know, you're acting like a real fucking asshole right now, Koto. You're being reckless and stupid and getting yourself hurt over nothing, and we're all keeping quiet cause it's your sister, and because, hey, you know, we fucking trust and love you, dude!" He grit his teeth, glaring daggers across the distance. "We really fucking like you, you're a great person and a good friend and normally you don't treat the rest of us like dogshit."

Skull ran a hand back through his hair. "Look, I get it. This is a personal battle, you're fighting Sae and the rest of us are just here to tag along and help you out. Same as every other Palace, you know? One of us, or two," he nodded to Panther, "get to take point cause we've got the most to lose. We get it, that's why we've all kept our mouths shut even when you start pulling risky shit that puts all of us in danger." Queen winced, but did not yield.

"We said we were going to take this Palace slowly," Skull continued. "Do it right, be careful and make sure we change your sis's cognition the right way. If you changed your mind on that, if you just want to blow this popsicle stand and change her heart by force like we did for all the other piece-of-shit Rulers? I'm golden with that. On...fucking...board. I'm betting all the rest of the Thieves are too. But shit, for fucking out loud, Queen! If you're going to pull the trigger on going apeshit in your sis's head, then give us some fucking warning, okay!? Cause right now, we're all just staying quiet and weathering your fucking blowback, and you're not even telling us how to not be your fucking collateral damage!"

Queen's mask shattered. A flinch radiated across the Thieves. "Skull," she said, a tempest behind her voice, that single word drenched with atomic frisson. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way." The boxing wrap glowed a brilliant velvet hue, letting off furious sparks as a sphere of pale cerulean energy formed around her hand, flits of starshine dancing across its surface.

Skull did not budge. "Not fucking likely."

Queen grit her teeth. She took a single step forward, exactly one step too far. Ren flicked the safety off his pistol, yanking it from its holster.

And from behind him came the familiar sound of the Thieves preparing themselves for battle. The whisper of frost-soaked steel against an ornate sheath. A whooshing rush of flame he knew to be blue without even needing to see it. The scrabble of paws on the floor. The soft 'pop' of a girl being abducted by her own UFO. A gentle rippling wave in the air as cognitive reality twisted in on itself.

The only Thief he couldn't hear...was Crow. He could still see the detective out of his peripheral vision, but Crow hadn't even shifted, apparently content to simply watch the scene.

Queen though...she'd stopped. A step over the line, and not a single one further. Frozen in place, with a posture that seemed almost fearful. Maybe...lucid. She raised her hand, staring down at it, at the star of magical energy that had formed at her command.

With a simple flick of her wrist, she dismissed the spell. Her mask reformed on her face. "Joker," she said, her voice still so very strained, hoarse and quiet. "What...are the priorities of the Phantom Thieves within this Palace?"

Ren waited for the other shoe to drop. And when it didn't, when he was sure that Queen really had found herself again, he clicked the safety back of Ryuji's pistol back on, and stowed it in its holster. He could hear the other Thieves behind him similarly disarm, almost taste the relief starting to flood the air.

"We're here to alter Sae Niijima's cognition," he replied. "And to open her up to the possibility of working with the Phantom Thieves, preferably without forcibly inducing a change of heart. We need her mentally stable enough to discuss how best to ensure Masayoshi Shido faces justice for his crimes, and ideally for her to maintain her status as Chief Prosecutor to help advocate on our behalf. If she suffers a noticeable Cognitive Overhaul, it's likely she'll be removed from that position of trust and authority. We want to avoid that, if at all possible."

Queen nodded along to his words. Her gaze traced the length of the elevator up into the ceiling, then off towards the rest of the members area where laughing, well-dressed cognitions were playing on slots, dice tables and cards.

"My sister picked a casino for a reason," she said. "It wasn't an arbitrary analog. Sae's a fan of poker, but she hates gambling and wouldn't ever step foot in a place like this. But...she has no sympathy for anyone cheated by them." She ran a hand back through her hair, across the buzzed-short back of her neck. "Sae is a prosecutor, and she's extremely good at her job. When she takes a case, she knows her odds of unequivocal victory is close to a hundred percent."

Queen gestured to their surroundings, to the garish walls and beeping chimes of distant machines cheating yet another poor sucker out of their money. "In casino terms, she's the house. The prosecution makes the rules, they set the stage. The defense doesn't enter the courtroom hoping to win, to beat the house, they enter hoping to lose less than everyone else. No one in their right mind ever tries to beat the house completely." A quiet, pained breath. "Because the house always wins."

"Makoto," Panther whispered. Something unspoken in her voice, something she'd probably been waiting to say since they stepped into this Palace. Something she no doubt still had yet to find the words for.

"But that also means," Queen continued, "that she won't turn against that same system. Sae won't bite the hand that feeds her, because then she'd just be yet another sucker playing that one percent. With or without her, the house will continue to win." She pivoted slightly, flashing a smile over her shoulder. There was a gleam of what might have been tears in her eyes. "If we're going to get my sister over to our side, we need to convince her that isn't the case. We need to show her that her precious system is still fallible. That it's possible to beat the house."

Queen turned back towards the elevator. "Which means that this isn't our way in. We take the elevator up, we face off against Sae on her own terms? She'll win. But...if we cheat her out of her money, if we beat every rigged game she throws at us...we can bring this whole casino down without ever touching her Treasure."

"Hm," Crow said, hiding what was probably a smile behind one hand. "I like how you think, Queen. It seems your teammates weren't understating your intelligence."

"If I didn't know you better, Crow, I'd think you were calling me stupid," Queen replied. A deadpan calmness, yet an utterly toothless one. "But, you value the continued use of your limbs, so you wouldn't do that."

Silence. And then Skull barked out a laugh probably loud enough to alert the Shadows halfway across the Palace. "Koto, you fucking...you mean, rude little asshole person," he said, laughing out every word. "First you scare me shitless, now you're trying to laugh me to death. For real, Queen, if I don't make it out of your sister's Palace–"

"It's my own damn fault," Queen finished. "I'll gladly pay out of pocket for your funeral if that ends up happening." She turned to Ren with a mischievous smirk that would have given Oracle a run for her money. "Unrelated, Joker, do you mind if I borrow a few million yen? I think I have an upcoming expenditure I need help covering."

It was such a dumb joke. Under any other circumstances, he would have rolled his eyes and quipped back in kind. Something something inappropriate allocation of funds. But before he could even process a hypothetical response, he found himself snickering uncontrollably.

The laughter was once again contagious, and it didn't take much more than a barely stifled giggle from Noir's general direction before he was choking on his own mirth, his shoulders shaking, barely able to pull in a single breath without laughing back out the air a second later.

The tension began to leak from his chest like air from a stuck balloon. It wasn't all the way gone, he could still feel it aching at his bones like so much lactic acid. But he no longer felt the need to forge ahead with one eye on his own teammate.

Queen still had some making-up to do. Kind of a lot of making-up to do, actually. But this was a start. And for a hard-headed person like her? It was more than enough for the time being.

Ren trusted her again. That's all he needed.

For now.


10/30 – Sunday
Morning

Makoto
Before we head into the Palace again today, I want to give you all an apology for my behavior.
More than that, actually.
I don't know if there's anywhere that sells hot pot ingredients on short notice, but...
I'm going to take a look around.
Because there's something I need to come clean about.


Big enormous thankies to Jane for her perpetual help, support and love through these trying times.