Chapter 52: Astrid's Treasure

July 24th.

Loona used our phones to upgrade them in order for us to use them in and for The Cognitive World.

July 25th.

I went to Cherri Bomb and Angel Dust and the two gave me better upgrades for my and my friends weapons.

July 26th.

Today was the day that we went straight to Astrid's Palace in The Cognitive World and to find the treasure in order to change her heart.

When we went to Astrid's Palace, we picked up from the 1st checkpoint after playing through the 1st obstacle course of her palace.

"Alright, let's do this!" Cattleya said, "Here we come, Astrid!"

I led the way through a hallway until a big pirate imp was blocking us

"Yarr!" He shouted, "If yer want to get in me way, then riddle me–"

I shot the pirate imp. He grew mad and turned into a Shadow. I took off my mask and called forth one of my Personas.

"Lilim!" I shouted as one of my Personas, Lilim, appeared,

Lilim then created Bufula Ice magic and shot it at the Shadow. It was weak to Ice! It faded away! We pressed onward.

There, the 2nd obstacle course occurred. Being swinging blades in the middle. The exit has another treasure chest next to it, a switch on another side and stairs going down.

"Oh, how is this fair for a 2nd course?!" Willow shouted,

"I have an idea on how to get through!" Boris said,

Boris took off their mask and called forth their Persona.

"Ullr!" He shouted,

Ullr appeared and shot an arrow at the lever, switching it. Then, the swinging blades stopped and formed a path for us to go through the blades. We went through the blades no problem.

"Thanks for that sudden assistance, Hunter!" Cattleya said,

"Hey, you want to change Astrid's heart, right?" Boris said, "Might as well get this through!"

We opened the 2nd treasure chest. Another note appeared in it.

"Well, another piece of note." Cattleya said,

Then, we heard laughing. We turned to see Shadow Astrid on one of the swinging blades.

"So! Ya like to play by yer rules, huh?!" She said, "Well, I'll make sure where yer all heading down the stairs will be a living nightmare for you all!"

Astrid then ran away. Cattleya hissed with anger.

"Damn it…" She said, "Now she's taunting us…"

"Let's not focus on her!" Lars said, "We got a note to read!"

"Right…"

Cattleya then read the 2nd note. It read the following:

"Cattleya made me feel better after the death of my parents… We treated each other like sisters. It went well for a while, until she left me to live on her own… Without her, my life is shit again…"

Cattleya ripped the note in half while shaking.

"She did all of this hacking shit because I moved out…" She said,

Selene patted on Cattleya's back.

"It's ok…" She said, "We'll go talk to her…"

"No!" Cattleya said, "I'm not talking to her! You guys talk to her without me!"

"...We'll do that." I said,

"J-Joker…" Selene said,

"He's right. Go talk to her without me." Cattleya said, "I'll be fine. Trust me."

"Alright…"

July 27th.

We went to talk to Astrid, but Cattleya wasn't with us.

"Right, so, who's knocking?" Lars wondered,

"Let me do the honor." Selene replied,

Selene then knocked on the door.

"Who is it?!" Astrid shouted from the other side.

"It's Selene." Selene said, "Can we talk? It's about Cattleya."

Astrid opened the door.

"Can it just be you?" She asked Selene, "I don't want the others to eavesdrop."

"Alright, alright…" Selene replied as she turned to us, "This might take a while, so go ahead and wait."

"We'll do so." I said,

Selene went inside. Astrid looked at us like she held a grudge for us and closed the door.

July 28th.

We were in Cattleya's apartment as we were talking about what Selene had heard from Astrid when the two had their chat alone.

"So… She's hacking only because she cares about me…" She said, "So called best friend…"

"And she calls me cute." Selene said,

"Really?"

"...Positive."

"Heh, good for you, but that's no excuse from her since she's gonna ruin our lives."

"Well looks like we gotta try and go through her third puzzle tomorrow." Lars said,

"Maybe… But… I don't know…"

"You good?" Boris wondered,

Cattleya looked away in sadness.

"No! I'm not!" She replied, "She's hacking from her own jealousy that she pulled out of her ass! She's probably doing this for attention!"

We were silent. Cattleya sighed as she got up.

"I'm sorry… I need to be alone…" She said as we saw her crying, "I'll see you all tomorrow…"

We left as Cattleya went to her home.

July 29th.

We went to Astrid's Palace again in The Cognitive World. We went downstairs after completing the 2nd puzzle. We went through the hallways and then more imp pirates surrounded us.

"Great! They got us surrounded!" Boris said,

"Well, guess we gotta do what we gotta do!" Cattleya said, "For the sake of our friendship and for our lives at risks!"

Anne Bonny and Ullr appeared and took down the Shadows with Power Slash and Mabufula Ice magic!

"Alright then, let's carry on to the 3rd puzzle!" Cattleya shouted,

We went to the third room. It turns out that it's just three doors with arrows as signs.

"Huh. What is this?" Lars wondered,

"Looks like we gotta pick a door and hope for the best." Selene said,

We moved closer and thought for a moment.

"Hmm…" Willow wondered, "Elevators of some sort? Which one is the one that will take us up?"

Selene walked to the 1st elevator.

"Let me test something out…" They said,

Selene then went to the 1st elevator and noticed something. She went out of the elevator as the platforms on it were opened.

"First one is a trap!" She shouted, "They're trap doors!"

"Ok, so the first one isn't an elevator…" Cattleya said as she looked at the third elevator, "Maybe the third one?"

Selene then kneeled and checked the platforms with her hands by feeling them.

"These are also trap doors." She said,

"The 2nd one?" Cattleya wondered,

Selene went to the 2nd elevator and felt the platform. She gasped.

"They're not a trap door!" She shouted, "Everyone, come on!"

We went to the 2nd elevator. The door closes and the elevator surprisingly goes up.

"Yes! Thanks for the assistance, Eclipse!" Cattleya said,

"Yeah! Wow, what a strategy!" Boris said,

"We're really this little trickster game by our own rules!" Lars said,

The elevator stopped in a small area with stairs in the middle leading to the roof of the pirate ship and a treasure chest next to it.

"Looks like we got one more chest to open up before we head to the top…" Cattleya said, "Let's get this over with."

We went to the treasure chest. Cattleya opened it up and it was another note. Cattleya received it and read the following:

"When I heard about The Phantom Thieves and I.M.P, I knew Cattleya had something to do with one of them. Why is she living a better life than me? I really gotta do this because of not only my jealousy, but to prove to Cattleya that I care about her. I decided to hack the internet to threaten The Phantom Thieves and I.M.P to try and give her the same Hell as she gave me!"

Cattleya sighed heavily as she dropped the note back into the chest.

"Karma…" She said, "I wanted to call Astrid after we started The Phantom Thieves group, but her old number was no longer available…"

"She probably got a new number to try and get away with it…" Lars said,

"Maybe… But I'm not letting her run away from all of this! We gotta change her heart once and for all!"

We went upstairs to see a glowing orb near the steering wheel.

"So that's the treasure?" Boris asked,

"This is the treasure, but not in its final form." Cattleya replied, "So we have to send her a calling card, but I'm afraid of taking it to the public…"

"Let's make one for herself and for herself only." I said,

"...Good idea! Let's make one for herself and then go and change her heart!"

"But when do we decide to deliver the calling card once it's done?" Lars wondered,

"I'll let you know. For now, let's head back."