Disclaimer: Fate and Persona are owned by different companies, and I hold no ownership and all that jazz.
7/26
Hakuno had a slow day, just a simple day of relaxation as she slowly read The Count of Monte Cristo. A swirling feeling of wrongness came. Avenger was not happy about certain sections…
Hakuno put her bookmark in around… halfway done with the book. The group chat was quiet, everyone had plans, and she wanted to finish her summer homework early.
Overall it was a nice and calm day.
7/27
Renewed and refreshed, Hakuno was relaxed as they reentered the Palace, the haunting forest seemed less despairing with a day of rest.
Hakuno felt the flames of Avenger form her outfit, almost as if the Servant had regained his life for a split second she heard him huff in annoyance.
Hakuno shrugged, "I think we should charge through faster." Skull's voice broke the small silence in the Safe Room.
Tilting her head slightly Hakuno glanced at him, "I mean like, we're dealin with an actual killer. Someone just as bad as Kaneshito, who is actively hunting people."
Joker nodded, "I agree, We should test how far we can go, from one of my… contacts Ran Rū hasn't committed any more murders just yet."
Contacts?
"I've kept an eye online as well, nothin' different than normal." Oracle's laptop seemed to be able to work in the metaverse… Hakuno shrugged, She was fully ready to spend quite a bit of time here, her Od was fully restored and a day of rest was all she needed to be able to fight at full capacity.
"Ok, let's move out."
Hakuno was so very wrong.
The temperature of the forest began to plummet, Morgana claimed they were heading in the right direction, towards the very end of Kanda at least Hakuno thought.
Shadows were quiet, the only most common were the ones that dove in from the branches, but with the temperature falling a few of the Shadows had a few status effects.
But the worst part about it was the ice she felt clinging to her skin it made her wish that Avenger's flames could warm her… Hakuno had passed the only scarf she had stuffed into the Regalia to Ann… for apparent reasons.
She made a note to add more clothing to her Regalia. The only one who seemed completely at ease was Joker. His boots kicked through the snow like it wasn't even there.
"What in the world…" Hakuno glanced over at Queen, her eyes perplexed on a small floating ball of light.
The Blue Mushrooms had all but disappeared, making Mona and Akira the only ones who could see without Panther sparking a small flame. The small light in front of them had flickered before slowly going deeper into the forest.
"Will o' wisp?" Hakuno's voice leaked with concern.
No mask, so Hakuno didn't know if it would be a Shadow, perhaps a cognition of something? Hakuno shrugged, "I'm picking something up, It's at the edge of my vision but, I think it's a building?" The woods grew thinner and thinner as they followed the flickering light. Spots of white light came peeking out from the canopy.
The light was blinding as they witnessed the Circus coming into view a large metal fence surrounded the collection of tents and buildings… but it was a decent distance away.
That wasn't even taking into consideration the large metal spikes that dotted the landscape around the circus's inner fence. The snow gently floated down and once the will o' wisp passed the first spike it flickered into nothingness.
The team remained silent for a moment, "I think this is the edge of the Palace… I'm not picking up anything after this but more trees."
Mona's face scrunched as he shook off some snow, "I can smell the treasure inside."
"How the heck does a forest become a circus? In the same Palace!" Fox was framing the fortress as Skull's voice echoed into the snowy landscape.
"It could be due to the nature of her personality?" Queen's reasoning was sound Ran Rū's appearance was that of a clown.
Hakuno could only shrug, she didn't know Ran Rū, so they could only speculate, "Maybe that is what she views as the entire ward except like the place she rested at?" Panther's suggestion sounded right.
"I am picking up a lot more Shadows in that fun house," Hakuno shrugged as Oracle's voice made them refocus.
"I think I can see a path." Joker slowly led them through the maze of spikes, Hakuno just brushed one causing her arm to gush blood, and her circuits flared as she cast Recover.
Luckily no Shadows assaulted them as they reached the edge of the fence surrounding the circus. The fence was abnormally tall and surprisingly strong. They avoided the spotlights that randomly shined using the few structures to block it.
"I can see an entrance…" Hakuno could feel the twinge of Magecraft as Joker spoke, and indeed there was a small hole inside the fence… right into one of the tarps that sported the same hole.
"I'm gettin' eerie feelin' from this." Skull had a point, but where else could they enter? The fence was too tall for all but Oracle's Persona to reach.
Hakuon could feel Queen's nerves, flare up… in fact "Queen, your heart rate gone sky-high You ok?" Joker's hand grabbed Queens.
"You can sit this out if you want." Queen took a deep breath as a howl of wind made the spears chime and kick up some of the loose snow. A chill ran down everybody.
"I-I can do it."
"I'll go first." Mona's voice clipped as he dove into the hole. His bulbous head somehow fit into the small hole.
"Everyone stay together." Hakuno agreed feeling Oracle's Persona shimmer out of existence as the two were the last to enter the small hole.
He was the first to enter, their other Navigator. Morgana's eyes could see inside the dark room, his eyes scanned for any potential danger.
Without Oracle's scanners, it was up to him. His navigation has led them to victory since the beginning!
But…
He was creeped out by the numerous mirrors, their reflection glinted off of each other making his head spin. He sniffed the air before giving everyone else the go-ahead…
He waited, a small sense of panic washed over him as they took their sweet time coming in. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing Joker and Queen and Lady Ann!
"They should've been right behind us." After a few moments Joker spoke, Mona sniffed the air, but he couldn't smell them.
"Come in Mona! Queen? Panther? Joker?!" Oracle's voice echoed into their earpieces.
"Oracle, where are you four?" Joker's voice was laced with worry.
"We got separated somehow, we are in some sort of dark room, uh… I'm picking up some Shadows near us, and you guys are separated by some wall… Our two paths meet up down the line!"
This is Morgana's time to shine! Wait… how would they fight if only he and Joker could see?
Lights flicked on, as an echoing piano began to play from somewhere down the hall of mirrors. Spotlights seemed to follow a strict path. Queen noticeably relaxed.
"Ok, Mona focus on Navigation, focus on support if fights start. We are down half our team. Stay close and keep an eye on each other. Good luck everyone."
At least it was warmer in here than outside?
"Avenger!" Cursed flames erupted as Aeros dissolved into a burst of wind. "Fox cut it down! Skull on your left!" Goemon's pipe came down with a slash, as Fox countered the Aquans.
Necronomicon wasn't in stealth mode, Oracle used the spotlight to ensure that everyone could see in combat. Skull's club slammed into another Aquan as it tried to attack their Navigator.
They were in some strange haunted house. Skull and Fox mentioned it was reminiscent of both her own and Oracle's Palace.
Hakuno could only shrug as the three Shadows faded into nothing. Between Skull and herself they were able to stay on track. Skull was surprisingly good at figuring out how to keep away from the majority of Shadows, While she focused on combat he ensured that they avoided combat.
Along with Fox's incredible, "Fox, calm your circuits." Hakuno could feel his warmth a person away. Skull led while Fox brought up the rear leaving both Hakuno and Oracle in the center of their decent line-up.
"Ah, my apologies… I can feel the pricks of pain but it is similar to the feel of an empty stomach."
"Overuse of Magecraft can lead to death, so be careful." Hakuno could only sigh, Fox quickly found out what his… ability was and he had already incorporated it into his combat. It seemed to be some sort of Reinforcement of his eyes, he could focus and see in greater detail than before.
But his love for art made it so he constantly used it.
Focus Hakuno Focus…
Skull's sleep stick sent a crawling hand flying.
Hakuno could only wonder how the hands were able to find them. No eyes or ears, was it by touch? A flash of warmth from behind them alerted Hakuno. "Fox, you should let your circuits rest before you hurt yourself." That and the amount of Od he had to be using was getting slightly worrying.
"Hm? That wasn't me."
What?
"Guys… I'm picking something coming towards us! Really fast!" Hakuno could now hear the pattering of skeletal feet charging at them at incredible speed down the path they took.
"We can't outrun it! Hide in the coffins!" Skull sounded confident and they listened, On their left were three large coffins but! She grabbed Oracle and hid inside one of them. Fox and Skull hid inside their own.
Hakuno felt her heart speed up her pulse quicken the pattering of feet slowed to a stop as she could faintly hear the sniffing of a nose.
She glanced down and Oracle's goggles covered her eyes, She could faintly see green text scrolling down… As well as a dust of pink on her cheeks.
The footsteps resumed as it left. "It's gone." Oracle pushed open the coffin as the two peered down the path, small flames dotted the path that the being took.
"That was too close." Hakuno placed a hand on Fox, his outfit was singed, his coffin was the closest to the main path and he was weak to fire. Recover flowed into his body and made him breathe easier.
"Take a moment," Skull spoke up as Hakuno pulled out a bottle of their medicine and passed out the medicine. "Oracle, how close are we to them?"
Oracle nodded, "Close. But…"She pointed down another path, the path the ball of bones went down, "I'm picking up a Will Seed down that way." Hakuno sighed, it would be best. Seeing her past might give them some advice… "We should ask Joker first."
"Will Seed near us, go after it?" Skull spoke in a whisper.
"If your confidant, would save some time back-tracking." Joker sounded winded… Perhaps they also are having to deal with some Shadows?
"We'll grab it on our way then." Skull was the secondary leader, so Hakuno sighed as she went with them.
Makoto's fist smashed another mirror, and strange puppets popped out of the mirrors, She wasn't sure about the pattern to it, but there had to be one. The only help was that the shattered mirror made the paths large.
The puppets looked like hurriedly made copies of themselves, they weren't Shadows but a sort of cognition. Or perhaps!
"Above!" Mona's slingshot fired rapidly at a cage hanging from the roof, vines surrounded it almost as if… "It's a Will Seed! Something else is using the vines to hide in the cage!"
"Panther focus fire on the cage! Mona protect her while we take care of the puppets! Persona!" Thunderbird howled as lightning slammed into the numerous puppets. Johanna responded to her wishes as she ran over the Puppets as crossbow bolts barely missed her.
"Feel my rage!" Makoto's fist slammed into the ground, as a swirl of nuclear energy roasted the puppets. A wave of flame came from behind her, the vines retreated as a man wearing a half-mask played on a piano, a vine grew on his shoulder that carried the Will Seed.
A puppet appeared in front of him as Panther's fireball crashed into it. He can summon them to block their ranged attacks?!
The Pianist didn't even glance at them. Makoto's rage bubbled as Nuclear energy slammed into the base of the floor superheating it along with Panther's flames.
Winds roared as Makoto side-eyed Mona teleported.
What!?
With a single blink of her eyes as he appeared above the pianist, his scimitar cut the vine severing it from the pianist who shrieked.
The few dolls collapsed as he fell to the ground, another blink and Mona stood beside the three of them panting.
"What was that?" Joker's voice echoed her own question.
"I'll explain later!" The pianist stood up, his fingers now ended in long and sharp claws. He screamed as he dashed forward, Makoto didn't even notice as her fist collided with his outstretched claws, the sounds of metal clashing made them focus on the battle at hand.
Joker's knife slashed into his back as Arsene's knife boot hit the Pianist's head. The Pianist flew smashing one of the last mirrors as he turned to black dust.
"Whew… Mona, that was amazing." Panther's voiced a fair compliment.
"Yes… that teleportation was really timely." Mona blushed at the compliments, he puffed out his chest.
"Was that what you were up to yesterday? You snuck off after breakfast."
"A thief gotta practice his skills!" She sighed.
"Don't you remember Magus's warnings?" She herself had only tried a bit, the weird Magical Energy was strangely hard for her to control.
"Um… Anyways! The Will Seed!" Deflection?
She and Joker shared a glance, did he pick up on it as well?
"I didn't even know they could grow on Shadows…" Panther mumbled as the scenery warped and changed.
They were in a fast-food restaurant, possibly overseas as the menu board was in English, a Young Woman exited the restaurant her costume shined as she wore the clown suit with pride.
It was dark as she began her walk home, A howl erupted from the silence… and they watched as Ran Rū walked cautiously down an alley, a single glance was enough to show them that a dog…Was eating something as its maw was covered in blood. The Young Ran Rū screamed.
"Goemon Freeze!" Ice smashed into the Large Flaming Skeleton Hound as it crumbled once more, Hakuno had never felt so useless immune to curses, fear, and guns her ability to club the skeletons would only tickle the monster forcing her to focus on healing with her Magecraft, and Garu ring.
The Skeletal Hound reformed, his flames failed to light as he stood up.
The Skeleton howled as no sound came forth, smaller dog skeletons charged at the group "Seiteeeeen TAISEI!" Skull's Persona appeared as it swung its staff down multiple dents appeared on the horde of hounds shattering the piles of bones.
"Terror Claw!" Avenger's claws clashed with the hound's own, Hakuno flipped through the items she had stored, "Cover your eyes!" A flash of light came when she threw the few Magatama that dealt with Blessings.
The Skeleton howled in pain as it collapsed, without the pack leader the few remaining hounds crumbled to dust. "We make a kick-ass team!"
"Two Melee and a Cursed focus-Mage is a terrible line-up for undead!" Oracle groaned out.
"Whatever, let's grab the Will Seed and meet up with Joker." Fox's blade severed the vines surrounding the Will Seed as the door fell apart.
"Let's grab it and go." Skulls' hand grabbed the Seed as the flashback began.
One man and one woman stood inside a tiny apartment, the man held a large duffle bag while the woman was visibly pregnant. The man wore a stupid smile while the Woman was clearly upset "What!?" The apartment was sparsely decorated, with very few appliances and only a single small bed.
"You heard me, I have witnessed God and Will go on a journey to spread her Word." The man was huge, his chest was bare and he wore an orange leather jacket. A smile never left his face as he spoke.
"But! Our child!" The man closed his eyes, his wife? Girlfriend? It was Ran Rū cried, "I can't be a single mom!"
The Man's smile grew larger as he patted her shoulder, "Don't worry! I talked to your parents, and they are willing to take you back! They had moved to Tokyo, and you always wanted to visit! The flight's in three days!" The man opened the door and quickly ran outside.
"He… took all our money." A flash of panic came across her face, a quick glance showed they didn't even own a fridge… "How… will I survive?"
Ran Rū fell to the ground They could just feel how tired… and hungry she was, but… "What… can I do?" Hakuno watched as… her eyes fell on the last occupant in the room… their large lizard?
Hakuno shook her head as the flashback faded, "Did she eat her pet after her husband left her?" Ran Rū's husband was truly scum.
"Truly disgusting, to abandon one's own child." Fox spat.
"I'm so going to Dox the guy," Oracle mumbled, the entire party had… parental problems except for her, well neither Fox nor Oracle ever knew their fathers. And Skull had an eerie calm on his face.
"I so hope the dude's cognition is in here so I can smash his ugly mug."
"Found another Will Seed, two down, let's all meet up."
The group exited from their tent, they were much smaller on the outside than on the inside. Hakuno sighed as she saw the other thieves emerging from a nearby tent, "Wait! It's a safe room!" Hakuno glanced at it.
"No."
"Oh come on, really."
"Disgusting." Panther and Queen each voiced their complaints.
Mona's sniffed and sighed, "It really is a Safe Room."
It was an Outhouse. The scenery flickered to resemble a diner before returning to an outhouse.
"Come on…" Hakuno sighed as they piled inside, This was the worst Safe Room.
Author's Notes: Uh, well. I thought it would be a funny place to end it, sorry if it seemed rushed. Monji Gatou is her husband, going to leave that there. Had to pick one of the two to decide the Palace, but I couldn't really think of a good reason Gatou would go after the Thieves. His would have been a shrine and would've had numerous angelic/divine beings patrolling it with Arcueid being the being he worshiped and they would have fought her instead of him, with him occasionally throwing buffs like a Bard in DND would.
Anyways, bit of backstory for her! In FGO Vlad (Extra) stated she didn't eat her pet or anything. Well, obviously that has changed in this timeline.
Oh, and the Palace shifting to a more circus base was something I did have planned for quite a while, her hunting ground doesn't extend forever and she even has a place that she would deem safe, but that place would be warped from her perspective as well, so… circus. If she was a bit more sound of mind it probably would have been a single building, like a hunting cabin.
But Ran Rū is not sound of mind.
Oh and yes Morgana can do short-range teleportation... Like Fou could.
