A special thank you to the FFN user TheBeatles211 for giving me inspiration for parts of this chapter!
Chapter 30: Pyramid of Wrath (Part 2)
July 26
Collin: Hey Ren! I was thinking… I know we have DHORKS and Futaba's Palace to handle but… could you maybe spare some time to talk to me?
Ren: I can do that.
Collin: Thank you. Meet me at the church. We can talk there.
"What is it you wanted to talk about, Collin?" Ren asked as he arrived.
"Well… It's about my purpose on the team," Collin said. "I don't recall if I've given you my full purpose of being here before, but I figured I might as well tell you now. You see, the reason I came to Japan was to help the one chosen by fate to enact justice on the wicked. By doing that, I'll be allowed to rejoin my brethren in Heaven."
The cherub looked away in shame. "Lately though, I'm starting to question if I'm doing the right thing. What you told me last time, about doing what I wanted to do… it made me realize that I might be falling back into the same place I was before."
"This is about CHERUB, isn't it?" Ren asked.
Collin nodded, tears coming to his eyes. "As much as it pains me to say it… they did hurt me, Ren. I thought they were my friends- and at one point, I do believe they were- but I was too soft and cowardly to stand up for myself and let them boss me around with no thoughts of my own safety or comfort. And now I wonder if this mission I'm on is just me being a follower yet again…"
Ren hummed. "That's a bit tricky, isn't it? I'm not as knowledgeable on your faith, but I do know that selflessness is a big virtue. At the same time, however, it isn't healthy to neglect yourself either. What you're feeling right now makes me think of my mother, actually."
"How so?" Collin asked.
"She's been raising me alone her whole life, and sometimes she puts the entire world on her shoulders," Ren explained. "When I got convicted by the man… It crushed her to see her son be labeled as a criminal. Despite what you may think, she believes that I am innocent, but society wanted her to outright shun me from her family, and the school board forced her to send me away. When I came to Tokyo, I made her promise to take care of herself and not let everyone else decide how she lives. When my time here ends, I'll be happy to see her again and not just hear her voice on the phone…"
Ren smiled at Collin. "Our culture makes it seem like we have to rely only on ourselves, but that's simply not healthy. We need friends and family to be there for us. The Phantom Thieves need you, Collin, regardless of the reason you were sent here in the first place. And if you need us, we'll be there for you as well."
Collin smiled back. "Heh, you always know what to say to make me feel better, Ren. I see now… while I was doing this to return home, my time with all of you has opened my ideas to other ways I can help people. It's even started making me look at my sworn enemies differently…"
He stood up and nodded. "While I'm still a believer and follower of the Lord, I'm going to forge my own path in his teachings. At CHERUB, it sometimes felt like what we were doing was just to look good in His eyes, but now… I want to truly practice what I preach and spread kindness and love. The Phantom Thieves are calling out the sins of the people, and by changing their hearts, we're giving them a means to confess those sins. Even if our targets don't fully repent, the fact that we're doing something to make everyone's lives truly better is enough for me."
"And we'll be with you every step of the way," Ren said. 'I feel a new resolve from Collin…'
The cherub smiled before gasping. "Oh, there's something else I wanted to give you, Ren!" Collin went over to the priest and came back with a massive book, the text giving an audible thud as he dropped it on the pew next to Ren. "I figured that with us sharing our cultures, you'd like to have your own version of the Bible to read! This is actually the version of the text I most use. I know you like reading, so I hope you enjoy this!"
Ren looked at the Bible, picking it up with trepidation. 'Well, at least my demonic heritage doesn't seem to be affected by it…' he thought. 'This is going to take a while to read through, though…' The leader of the Phantom Thieves silently thanked Morgana's forethought of Ren reading the Speed-Reading book earlier this month, as that skill would surely come in handy for this massive text…
[***]
July 27
"I'm honestly surprised at the Palace this time… Everywhere we looked was just desert," Morgana said at the hideout that day.
"Oh yeah, all the other ones until now have just been normal cities outside of the distortion until now," Loona recalled.
"Thanks to that, we didn't even know we were in a Palace our first time going into Kamoshida's," Ryuji said.
"That's still part of the Palace though. The city may not have been distorted, but it was cognition," Morgana reminded them. "The Palace rulers may have been criminals, but they were social enough to know the city layout. But Futaba probably doesn't… In fact, I bet she isn't even interested in the outside world."
"Hence why the whole thing is a bleak desert… Understandable, considering her lifestyle," Yusuke said grimly.
"I doubt many famous criminals are shut-ins like her though," Ann said. "Hopefully that means we won't have to go through all this desert business in the future."
"That might not necessarily be the case," Makoto said. "Many upper-class citizens travel by limo or plane, so they don't know or care about city life…"
"Sounds like my mom," Octavia said.
"A plane…!? Damn, that sounds pretty good! I mean, wouldn't you wanna go to a Palace way up above the clouds if you could?" Ryuji grinned.
"No thanks," Ren shook his head.
"I think a flying bank is quite enough, thanks," Makoto agreed.
"I have to say though, the topic of the area outside the distortion is fascinating," Yusuke mused. "Depending on the criminal, there may be an exact replica of Tokyo in their Palace. I would love to examine the aesthetics of such a strange place at least once."
"Always going on about art, huh?" Loona chuckled.
"But It's true that an observant criminal could have a true to reality city in their Palace," Morgana pointed out. "Although even if such a place did exist, it's not like we'd have any use for it." With that conversation done, the gang entered Futaba's Palace once more.
[***]
Location: Palace Entrance
"Hey, we've changed into our phantom thief costumes," Panther pointed out as they approached the pyramid.
"This only proves that Futaba sees us as a threat now. Be on your guard," Omen cautioned. Going into the Palace proper, the gang found that the door from their previous visit was still closed off.
"So it still won't open. We might just have to give up on it," Mona said.
"No point in sitting around though. Whaddya wanna do, Joker?" Skull asked.
Joker hummed as he looked at the door. "I say… we find a key to unlock the door," the leader said.
Queen nodded. "Yes, there must be some means by which we can open it."
"We will investigate every suspicious place we see, both inside the pyramid and out," Fox stated.
"Ugh, outside!? You mean we gotta deal with that damn heat again!?" Lycan groaned.
"No complaining. I don't like the idea either, but we have to look everywhere," Templar said. As the gang went back to leave, a familiar voice called out to them.
"Are you leaving?" Shadow Futaba asked appearing behind them. "Come back here. Let's talk for a moment." The Phantom Thieves cautiously approached the pharaoh. "Welcome back. I had thought I would never see you again."
"Yeah, I wonder why- I can't believe you tried to crush us was an effing boulder!" Skull exclaimed. "You want us to steal your goddamn treasure or not?"
"Hm, why don't we make a deal? You wish to proceed further, yes?" Shadow Futaba offered.
"A deal?" Omen repeated.
"There is a town nearby. I would like you to take back that which the bandit stole from me," the pharaoh said.
"Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing a town on the way here," Panther recalled.
"If you bring what was stolen back to me, I will give you a reward. I'll even tell you how to proceed," Shadow Futaba said.
"Can't you tell us any more details? Anything about this bandit, or what was stolen?" Queen asked.
"You'll learn all the information you need to know once you arrive," the Shadow said vaguely.
"We'll need to head outside if we want to go to the town," Omen said. "Mona, better get the engines ready."
"On it, Omen!" Mona said with a salute. Going outside, the gang spotted a town nearby, with the Mona Bus getting them over to it quickly. "We've arrived. This has to be the city Futaba's Shadow mentioned."
"It's looks so desolate… She said only bandits reside here, but still," Templar said nervously. The gang explored the area, fighting a few sparce mummy-like Shadows, but otherwise didn't find much.
"I'm getting a weird vibe from this place. I can't even smell something like a Will Seed out here," Lycan said.
"Hey, guys. Looking for something?" said a voice behind them. Turning around, the gang saw a Shadow bandit standing there. "Heh, I thought I heard someone rusting around out here… and here y'all are. Welcome to the desert, fellow trader."
"Hm? What does he mean by "trader"?" Fox wondered.
"We don't care about your welcomes. You're a bandit, right? Just cough up the thing you stole," Lycan demanded.
"Ha! Well ain't this interesting. A group of criminals coming after a fellow trader," the bandit laughed. "Well, you're gonna have to catch me if you want it."
"Wait!" Panther called as the bandit ran off. "Ugh, you just had to scare him off, Lycan!"
"Me!?" Lycan growled.
"Please don't start this now…" Templar sighed.
"We'll have time to talk later. Let's get after him," Queen said. Racing after the bandit, it became clear that the bandit was trying to give them the runaround. Queen got the idea to trap the bandit in the town square, and after splitting up to corner the guy, the Phantom Thieves managed to lure their target to where they wanted him.
"Yo, bandit! What's the matter? Not running anymore?" Lycan taunted.
"Tch… Don't even think about coming one step closer," the bandit warned.
"Let's just talk," Joker said diplomatically. "We don't have to fight."
"Heh, don't be ridiculous. You've gotta let me go," the bandit said. "I mean, you guys came to raid that tomb too, right? Why don't' we work together and share the plunder?"
"Don't talk like we're the same as you! We came here to save Futaba-chan," Panther said. "Now give us back what you stole!"
The bandit paused as if Panther's words spoke to him. "So you wanna do this no matter what, huh? Well, in that case… face my true form!" In a burst of power, the Shadow transformed into the appearance of a large vulture with a pharaoh's headdress and a skull face.
"This is… the goddess Nekhbet…" Omen noted.
"Oh? Have you met this one?" Queen asked.
Omen shook her head. "No, I'm just knowledgeable on the Egyptian pantheon. Let's do this, team!"
"Take this!" Lycan shouted, summoning Madame Queen and using Magarna to deal Earth damage to the foe, knocking it down.
"There we go! Let's do this!" Joker called, the team going for an All-Out Attack.
"Still not done yet?" Omen said. "Let's see how you are if you can't concentrate!" She summoned Hua and cast Marin Karin on Nekhbet, the goddess suddenly getting dizzy.
"No… don't attack… friends…?" the Shadow said in a daze.
"She's not going to be a problem now," Omen grinned.
"Neko Shogun!" Joker called, summoning the cat general to his side. Casting Psio, he managed to do some technical damage and knock their enemy over, ending the battle after one last All-Out Attack.
"Hm… Did this guy drop more money than usual?" Lycan asked.
"Might have to do with my recent fortune reading," Joker mused.
"We won! Oh, and the Shadow dropped something," Templar cheered. He picked up what looked to be a scroll of some kind.
"It's a papyrus scroll. And there's something written here too," Omen said, inspecting it. "We should probably not read it though, just in case Shadow Futaba gets pissed at us for doing so."
"Y'know, just what the hell's happening in her heart?" Skull questioned. "There's this bandit, those weird voices saying "you killed her," and who knows what else… It's a total freaking mess."
"So does this mean that even though she's the Palace ruler, she can't control what happens here?" Panther wondered.
"I don't know… I've never seen a case like this…" Mona said with worry.
"Regardless, we have no more business in this city. Shall we head back, Joker?" Fox asked.
As the Phantom Thieves went back to the pyramid, a mirage of sorts appeared in front of Omen, Lycan, and Templar. "What the-?" Lycan growled.
"Phantom Thieves of Hearts…" the mirage spoke. The gang couldn't see who the entity was, but their voice was feminine. "Those that are not of human descent… Hear my words and free the pharaoh of her suffering…"
"Who are you?" Omen asked.
"I cannot make myself known to you… but know that the bandit from before is but one of the forms I will take in this Palace…" the entity said. "Please seek out the Will Seeds and defeat the other illusions that take my form. Only when Futaba is free from Their lies can her heart truly change…"
The mirage faded after that. "What was that all about…?" Templar wondered.
"Hey guys, come on!" Skull called. "We don't want to leave you behind."
"I don't think the other saw that… Still, I think we can trust it," Omen said.
"It's weird, but I agree with you," Lycan nodded. "We were going to seek out the Will Seeds anyway, so it's good to know that there will be enemies waiting for us at least."
Rejoining the group, the gang went back to the pyramid to give Shadow Futaba her scroll back. "We're back. This is the thing you said they stole, right?" Skull said.
"Well done. It is yours now," the pharaoh stated.
"Wait, wait? Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?" Panther questioned.
"That is a map of the tomb, stolen by the bandit to aid in his ransacking of this place," Shadow Futaba explained. Omen unfurled the scroll to confirm that it was indeed a map.
"Why are you letting them just do whatever you want? This is your Palace, isn't it?" Queen asked.
"All that matters is that he map is now yours," the Shadow said. "Just come further in and… Oh."
The room suddenly shook. "What in the-?" Fox started to say, before Shadow Futaba disappeared.
"Well, that can't mean anything good-" Lycan said before the floor fell out from underneath them. "Goddamiiiiiiit!"
"Shit!" Skull cursed as they all fell into a room of rapidly flowing sand.
"Oh, come on! Quicksand!?" Omen groaned.
"Everyone, swim with all your might!" Mona ordered. Eventually the gang managed to get to the edge of the pit, pulling themselves up onto stable ground.
"Hey, you guys still alive?" Skull panted.
"Ow…" Collin winced, rubbing at his backside. "First the boulder, then this… I wonder if we did something wrong to make her mad at us?"
"I don't think it has anything to do with us angering her…" Mona said. "I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her." Lycan winced at that statement, the feeling all too familiar to the hellhound.
"A simple defense mechanism…" Queen mused. "Considering what she's been through, I don't blame her for mistrusting others."
"Joker… let's get to the bottom of this," Lycan said with resolve. "We're going to save Futaba and open the door to her heart! Just like you've done with mine…"
"Of course," Joker nodded with a smile.
"I have no objections, but we should worry about ourselves first and foremost," Mona said. "Come on, let's look for a way back above ground. Otherwise this place is going to end up our tomb too."
Climbing up and around the room, the Phantom Thieves found a door out of the death trap, entering the Underground Corridor where a door emitting light denoted the way out. They also encountered more dog-like Shadows here like back in Kaneshiro's Palace, though here they took of the form of jackal dogs. Sneaking on through (and past a particularly nasty-looking Shadow), the gang eventually made it out safely.
"We made it out! Damn It's hot though," Skull sighed. "My as is all sweaty…"
"At least we have secured our escape route. We can finally go about exploring this place now," Fox said.
"Let's use this as our entrance going forward," Queen suggested "It should be more stable than the front."
Heading back inside to continue exploring, the gang had to fight a new Shadow called Mot, though Mona's wind skills were easily able to knock it down. This new enemy did have a particular skill up it's sleeve that was unexpected, though…
"What the squeak!?" Lycan exclaimed, looking around in confusion as the Shadow and transformed her into a mouse, sans her mask. "Are you squeaking kidding me!?"
"Oh… my… goodness!" Templar squeed, picking up the mouse Lycan and hugging her close. "You're so cute like this!"
"Put me down, you squeaker!" Lycan struggled in his grasp, blushing at his affection.
"It should fade after we defeat this enemy," Omen said. One more attack from Mona did the job, and in a puff of smoke, Templar found himself holding the entire weight of a hellhound in his arms, the cherub comically falling to the ground as he was crushed by her weight.
"You're not to mention that to anyone else… ever!" Lycan growled at the team, giving them a death glare. "Let's just get going…" In the next room was some scaffolding and a knocked-over ballista. Grappling around the room, Joker found a suspicious button that, when pressed, made the ballista fire out a bolt, making a hole in the wall that let in a beam of light, which just so happened to open up the door to the next room.
"At bit of warning next time, Joker," Omen gasped, catching her breath. Jumping down to where the beam of light hit, the large door slid open for the team, leading to a new area, Chamber of Sarcophagi. "Looks like there's an inscription on this stone…" the princess noted. "The light shed by the god of the underworld shall become the sign for those who traverse the pits." What could that mean?"
Finding a path that let them grapple up to the top, the group explored the nearby rooms for treasure, finding a statue holding a green gem inside. "It's holding something… What, what is this statue anyways?" Skull asked. "Kinda looks like a hellhound…"
"This is Anubis, the Egyptian god of embalmment and weigher of souls," Omen explained. "Though he is commonly mistaken as the ruler of the underworld, that job actually goes to his father, Osiris."
"Didn't that inscription say something about a light from the god of the underworld?" Templar recalled. "Anubis might not be the ruler, but the gem could be what the writing was referring to."
"Hm, this could be what it was referring to," Mona nodded. "So, do you think we should take the gem?"
Joker nodded, taking the gem. Stepping outside the room, however, caused a sarcophagus on the wall to open up, revealing a Shadow inside. "Just like in those old movies: taking treasure from a tomb causes the mummies to wake up," Lycan rolled her eyes. "Let's be careful about which gems we take from now on. They could be linked to more traps in the future."
"Now that I think about it… I'm pretty sure I saw another Anubis statue at the bottom of the room," Templar said. Flying down there, the cherub came back with another gem. "Yep, there was another stone down there! Here you go, Joker. I'm sure it'll be useful."
Heading into the next room with two stones in hand, the Phantom Thieves found themselves in a upper area connected to the main stairs of the pyramid. There was also another mysterious beam of light like the one from the ballista room. "Looks like the light is facing the wrong way. We need to find a way to turn it around," Omen said.
"Hm…" Lycan hummed, looking around. The hellhound noticed two pedestals on the far side of the room. "You know, these look like they could hold the gems from before."
"Let's try it," Joker said. Placing the stone inside, the light mechanism spun around, firing its beam into the doorway, and unlocking it. "Looks like that did it!"
"So shining light upon it is what causes it to open. That is the same as the door underground," Fox nodded.
"We can't rest on our laurels though. Let's stay cautious and proceed forward," Queen warned. Heading down to the stairs, the team went through the door the door and up them until their path was blocked once more. Finding a side corridor, the Phantom Thieves entered the Chamber of Rejection, walking down a long hallway until they caught sight of Shadow Futaba at the end.
"This just smells like a trap," Lycan rolled her eyes.
"So you've come. Follow me," the Shadow beckoned. Taking a step forward, Joker jumped back suddenly when the floor fell out in front of them.
"Of freaking course there's more bullshit traps," Lycan growled. She looked around before smirking. "Looks like there's a point we could grapple with up there, though."
"Give it a shot, Joker!" Mona encouraged. One arrow-dodging grapple later and the gang was on the other side. However, the path Shadow Futaba had gone down was blocked by a spike trap, meaning they couldn't get to the next light mechanism without finding a way to deactivate it. Turning around, the gang went down the other path. Moving around more falling floor trap, they eventually came across another Anubis statue with a gem.
"Oh, so we should take this one as well, yeah?" Skull said, reaching for it.
"Hold on a moment! There's another inscription here," Omen stopped him. "Any who attempts to steal this gem shall be cursed…" I think we should wait until we for sure need this gem, just in case."
"Good thinking. Wouldn't want to wake more Shadows from their coffins," Lycan nodded.
"Sarcophagus," Templar corrected.
"Whatever," the hellhound scoffed. Moving on to the next room, the group found another button that when pressed seemed to make a change in the room. "If I had to guess, I bet that spike trap from before is disabled now," Joker said.
"Then let's grab the gem and get over there. I bet it's linked to the light beam like the last one was," Omen nodded. Backtracking and grabbing the gem along the way, the team made their way along the new path, though while they were able to proceed, certain traps were still active to block their path.
"This is why I prefer pure action movies over adventure ones. Too many traps…" Lycan grumbled.
"Oh look, another Anubis statue!" Templar pointed out. "Hm… This one doesn't have a gem, though."
"The inscription is the same as the other one as well," Omen noted.
"I think the "curse" might be what's activating the traps," Joker guessed. Putting the gem in the statue's hand, he smirked as the nearby spike trap failed to activate. "Sure enough." Heading past the now deactivated traps, the gang found another button, this one breaking down a wall that was blocking the path of one of the light beams.
"What was that noise?" Panther questioned.
"It must have been the ballista. It sounded like it made quite the impact," Queen guessed.
"Mkay, let's go find out if anything happened!" Skull said. Moving to the new path, Lycan's ears twitched as they proceeded forward.
"Hey… I think I sense a Will Seed!" she exclaimed. "Near that chest over there!"
Joker nodded, unlocking the box and tossing the new weapon over to Mona, along with a new focus for Omen to use. "I think this one has Psychokinetic energy," the princess said. "Now then, about that Will Seed…"
A Shadow suddenly appeared before them, taking the form a cobra with feathered wings and a red crown. "If you wish to proceed, then face me, thieves!" the Shadow exclaimed.
"That's Wadjet, another Egyptian goddess," Omen said. "Let's do this, team!"
The snake-like goddess attacked them with fire magic, but Templar was able to counter with his own water spells. "There we go! That's a weakness found!" the cherub cheered.
"You aren't going to last long now!" Mona taunted as the gang went for an all-out attack.
"Dis!" Joker called, summoning a Persona to cast his own Aqua spell for another knock down. With one more All-Out Attack, Wedjet was defeated.
"Futaba must be very protective if she has a boss defending her Will Seed already," Panther said.
"We'll just have to be careful going forward then," Omen mused as they went into the room and picked up the Will Seed.
Moving into the next room, the Phantom Thieves found a control panel that when activated seemed to turn on a screen of sorts. "Odd. The design seems to be scrambled somehow," Fox said.
"Maybe it's kinda like a puzzle? Joker, can you change the picture?" Panther suggested.
"I'll give it a go," Joker nodded. Messing with the controls, the fearless leader was able to properly align the picture!
"Aw yeah! There we go!" Skull cheered.
"But what is it a picture of?" Panther asked.
"This adult seems to be reading something to a crying child?" Fox guessed. "Hm, the emotions of the artist are oft depicted in the art they produce… I can sense… serious pain harbored in her heart."
"I should never have had Futaba…" a voice rang out.
"That voice… is coming from the mural?" Templar said in shock. "This is like what happened in Kaneshiro's Palace…"
"She is always such a bother…" It seems you caused your mother a great deal if trouble, Futaba-chan… She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis…" The room shook, and the beam of light cut through the picture, unlocking the next door on the stairs.
"What was that?" Omen questioned.
"Based on its contents, it sounded almost like a suicide note…" Queen said with worried.
"Could that be what Futaba remembers of her mom's death?" Loona asked. She growled, "That's a shitty thing to do to a kid if that's really how it all went down." Moving up the stairwell, the gang stopped in a Safe Room to cool off.
"Would you all be okay if we stopped her for today?" Templar asked. "I feel like we've made a good progress, but I could use a break from the desert heat and all the death traps…"
"Agreed," Lycan nodded. "After learning that Futaba was read her mother's suicide note too… I want to process that information before we go on. Something about that is really fucked up…"
"Yeah. I'd punch the guy that did that to her if I met him," Skull agreed.
"We should remember that Futaba's mind hasn't been the same since her mother's death," Omen said. "There might be more to these events that even Futaba knows. Still, I agree that it might be for the best for us to head out for the day." With that, the Phantom Thieves left the Pyramid of Wrath, vowing to explore more next time to uncover the hidden truths of Futaba's past…
[***]
July 28
With the rest of the gang wanting to take the day off, Octavia and Ren decided to swing by Chihaya's stand to check in on her. "I've really be building my bond with Kasumi lately. We even went out to the batting cage together as part of our training," Ren said.
"Good for you. Maybe you'll get the guts to ask her out eventually," Octavia teased.
Ren flushed. "It's not that I don't want to, but… I want to deepen our bond before popping that question. Kasumi seems like the type of girl that'd get easily flustered by such things. Plus, she has her gymnastics to focus on…"
"You'll find the right time for it, I'm sure," Octavia assured him. The two eventually reached where Chihaya was at her usual spot.
"Good to see you both!" the fortune teller greeted. "I have a lot to show you today! Look! "Mental Training for Sports"! Oh, and "Building a Successful Business from the Ground Up"!" She kept putting books up on the table from her bag. "I even have a book about the secret to being a good listener! It was written by a hostess from a club in Ginza. Just picking out which books to bring to me half a day. I have tons more back home, though!"
"Uh… That's nice… I think?" Octavia said in confusion. "Chihaya, what's this all about?"
"I've started using these as reference materials for the advice I give to my clients," the fortune teller explained. "This way, I can suggest new alternatives instead of leaving them resigned to their fates."
"You're such a hard worker," Ren complimented.
Chihaya giggled. "Of course. After all, I need to be able to advise my clients on their future selves! Anyway, what I really want to tell you is that I've arrived at new fortune telling philosophy. Those with strong convictions can, in fact, change fate. O-Oh, and as for the people I sold Holy Stones to… I've started reading their fortunes free of charge. I'd like to return the money they gave me too, but, um…"
"But what?" Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Did you spend it all or something?"
"W-Well, um…" Chihaya tried to find the words when a new voice spoke up.
"Am I interrupting?" a man with brown hair in business casual dress walked up to trio.
"Yokoda-san!?" Chihaya gasped.
"It's been a while, Maiden," Yokoda said.
Chihaya looked nervous. "U-Um, what are you doing here…?"
"The chairman asked that I come see how things are going," Yokoda explained. He looked at the two teens with curiosity. "Hm? And who are you…?"
"Th-They're my apprentices! I haven't actually introduced them to the chairman yet…" Chihaya said.
"You're telling me you're so busy that you needed to hire not one, but two apprentices?" Yokoda raised an eyebrow.
"Y-Yes! They've been a wonderful help!" Chihaya exclaimed.
Yokoda nodded. "I see. I guess I should have expected such great foresight from you, Maiden. Now then, I should be going."
"Th-Thank you for stopping by…" Chihaya said as he left. She sighed as she turned her attention back to the kids. "I'm sorry you had to see that…"
"Who was he?" Ren asked.
"And what was with him calling you "Maiden"?" Octavia added.
"That's, well… a nickname of sorts," Chihaya explained. "A-Anyway! It's a private matter, Goetia-san. Nothing you should concern yourself with."
"Well now I'm even more concerned than before…" Octavia muttered, Ren giving a silent nod.
Chihaya looked surprised. "W-Wait, are you perhaps… worried about me? Oh, I'm so touched! Honestly! My luck really improves when you're around, Amamiya-san, Goetia-san!" She smiled. "I know! In return for that, I'll predict your luck whenever you want!"
'I can sense Chihaya's motivation and confidence…' Ren thought.
"Oh! My bad, it's so late! I should close up for today," Chihaya said. "Good night, you two."
The cousins left after that, having a few concerns about what the "Maiden" business was about, but happy that Chihaya seemed more fulfilled in her fortune telling.
Confidant Rank Up
Confidant: Collin Pastor
Arcana: Sirius
Rank 5 Description: Collin opened up to you about why his came to Tokyo and came to terms with his past with CHERUB. You gave him encouragement and renewed his resolve to help the Phantom Thieves.
Rank 5 Ability: Arcana Burst- gain additional EXP when fusing Persona of the Sirius arcana.
Author's Note
Collin has finally told Ren about his purpose for coming to Tokyo, and admitted to his abuse that he took from his time at CHERUB. I think Collin's plight is pretty relatable, especially since it can be hard at times to do the right thing and look out for everyone without neglecting your own health and self-worth. Something unexpected for me was having Ren bring up his own mother, since she never comes up at all in P5. I've seen some stories depict Ren's parents as neglectful, but for this story I wanted his mother to be supportive of her son, just forced into a bad position because of societal expectations. Also Collin giving Ren a bible to read is an idea I've had for some time; if it was a book in-game, it'd probably be the longest book for Ren to read through, but in return you get a +3 to all personality stats.
And we're in Futaba's pyramid again, this time with some unique bosses. I get to show off my love of Egyptian Mythology through Octavia here, and a mysterious voice gives out HB party members a task of defeating some unique Shadows. Nekhbet was the vulture goddess and patron of Upper Egypt, while Wadjet is the winged cobra goddess and patron of Lower Egypt, both being tied to the pharaoh. Neither of them have appeared in mainline Persona or SMT, though versions of them did appear in the DemiKids spin-off series. I want to thank TheBeatles211 again for suggesting that I add more original mini-bosses to this Palace!
Not to go on a rant here, but I kinda hate that this game perpetuates the idea that Anubis is ruler of the underworld. In some versions of the myths he is, but most of them list Osiris as the ruler of the afterlife while Anubis is simply the barer of the scales and guide to souls that enter the underworld. To put it into perspective, Anubis is more like Charon the ferryman in Greek myth rather than Hades.
Loona is also getting more involved in wanting to help Futaba thanks to Ren helping the hellhound process her feelings. I'm sure Loona is going to have more to say as they learn more about Futaba's past as well.