They tried really hard to find a way. But they couldn't. Maybe they were too tired to think properly about the situation? They couldn't say.
Goemon and Jeanne were trying to understand how things work, how it was even possible, the two of them wearing clothes Nero lend them. It would be way better than torn and dirty ones. Nero will see with Kyrie if she could help him restoring the Phantoms ones. Goemon had a hard time, being tired and tensed, chewing on his pen like it was a smocking pipe. And Jeanne was tense too but also really jumpy, being startled by every noise she could hear.
Necronomicon was with Vergil, wearing one of Nero's sweaters like a maxi size dress, talking about what they feel when they tried to reach their humans' souls, wanting to know how to solve the problem, Futaba's favourite plushie still in their hands. They still had Futaba's tight on them, those still and oddly in a good shape. Their emotions were still shut down. Apparently, it could take time to get back to normal.
William was with Nero while wearing some of his clothes, the youngest hunter didn't seem to bother him, looking in some books for answers. Apparently, and for William, things were far easier with Nero. The hunter looked so much like his Ryuji he makes him at ease. He was way calmer than when Vergil found him.
Robin and Loki had their own book by their side, switching to work better, which was odd because they never got along so well before, wrap inside some of Dante's clothes. Why were they more comfortable inside Dante's clothes was a mystery but the concerned didn't complained about it. At least, they were productive, being able to seek some information about connexion point between this dimension and theirs. Well, as much as their fatigued body allowed them. Being two at control asked them a lot of energy.
And Milady joined Dante in the kitchen to help him with the cooking, wearing a summer over hall Kyrie forget with one of Nero's biggest sweaters… which appeared to be one of his favourites. Apparently, big sweaters were Haru's comforting type of clothes, she felt safer while wearing one. Nero didn't have the strength to say no to this. Charlotte just had to promise him to not make it dirty while cooking.
Arsène was asleep, needing a lot of rest and care. Zorro was by his side, like Mona was when with Ren, his feline belly against his human buddy's face. Carmen and Jean were with them, hugging Lupin in their sleep, being also seriously injured by demons. They would all share a room, a big mattress while they put the bed aside, thinking three mattresses on the ground would be better to be closer to each of their teammates. Dante and Nero also lend them some clothes, theirs and a dress that belong to Kyrie.
And remain V, already in bed since he had no more energy left. This day killed him, in a metaphorical way. Nero couldn't help but feel shameful he let it happen.
But their works didn't progress much. And dinner was ready.
So, they decided to leave everything behind for the night. And to eat together. The kitchen table was cramped but it didn't really matter.
And Nero, being himself, decided to talk to the Phantoms… well, their Personae, asking things about their humans.
"Just wondering, what your humans are doing for a living?" Some looked at him in a way that make him understand he needed to elaborate. "I know that Hasegawa is a cop and Kitagawa an artist… oh, and Akechi a detective." He paused to let Jeanne translate to Goemon and Charlotte. "But what about the rest of the team? I'm curious."
"Well." William was the first one to speak. "Ryuji just started to work at a friend's store: an airsoft shop. His mom is so proud of him since he found a job." Haru said something to him in Japanese. "Okay. She said she want me to answer for her. Haru has to take special classes to be able to take back her father's business. Since her dad's death, things are a bit erratic, and she doesn't have much time to herself."
"Unfortunately." Was sad Jeanne. She answered for herself. "For Makoto's part, she continues to study laws to become either a prosecutor, like her sister, or her cop, like her dad. She even gets her official moto licence a couple of days ago."
"We heard it was a thing in her family." Said Vergil, a bit distant while speaking.
"Yeah, I must admit I found it quite ironic." Added Nero. "That and the fact she became a Phantom Thieve."
"Sometimes, we can make odd choices to follow our believes." Said the speedster. "Like Makoto or even Zenkichi. His faith told him that following us was the good thing. He followed his heart and was able to overpass a bunch of his insecurities." Dante nodded, thinking he should remember to ask a thing about the oldest Phantom.
"My Futaba is a web worker. Or something like that. People pay her to secure their internet or code things for them. She also gains her life with her hacking skills by exposing bad people to the world." How could Necro say something like that with a so monotonous voice. Let's hope their emotions will be showed up soon because it was kind of creepy.
"If we talk about Ren and Ann, he is a waiter in a café owned by Futaba's adoptive father. And her, she's a part time model since two or three years." Said Kidd to end up talking about their humans' jobs.
"I don't know if you will answer me but now, I have a question about Zenkichi." Asked Dante.
"You want to know why he joined us?" He nodded to Jeanne. She sighed and spoke. "We won't tell you too much detail, because we don't know if we will accept strangers to hear about this part of his past, but we can at least explain roughly." She questioned her partners with her eyes before pursuing. "Do you know what it means to be a Phantom Thieve?"
"Well." Nero began, thinking hard. "Igor and Lavenza explained us roughly. Mementos is a space of common cognition where people are represented by shadows. Sometimes, those shadows turned bad, and you have to fight them to create a change to the real person. Some of those could have a view of the world so change it create a palace around them. To make this palace disappear, and get things back to normal, you have to steal their treasure, or hearts. And it's not just bad guys, who can have palaces, but also people with severe traumas and needed help. Am I right?"
"Mostly. The principle is that you get the point." Said the Necronomicon. "To gather the names, because we couldn't be everywhere, our humans used a website made by another friend. People could participate in our activities even though the most of police officers and other important people would treat us as danger to everyone."
"The team had a simple rule: only names, crimes, and a place the person goes a lot. Nothing too personal because our humans knew their fellows can be stupid and do a lot of hurts. But someone broke that rule… and gave us everything they could know about Zenkichi, every single of his personal data, saying he was one of the worst people and a big coward."
"Damn." Couldn't believe Nero. His uncle didn't say a thing but agreed. "Why doing something like that?"
"This person was mad at him for something he couldn't control." Explained Jeanne. "Futaba was already responsible of our internet security system so she could block everything before it became public. We still investigated the case before contacting Zenkichi to help him with an old case he wasn't able to resolve. A case he asked to be in charge, but he was forced to close. All because his superiors were the real cowards… to the point he received death threats directed toward his daughter in his mailbox." If the hunters weren't already shocked, it was now the case.
"And that's how, while helping us with a palace, he awakens to his Persona and decided to join the team." That was William. He still seemed impressed by their elder. Valjean and Wolf's awakening was really something impressive. "Since we were more efficient than most people he knew, he wanted to help and protect us."
"Well, he had a hard time adjusting to the Mementos and the Metaverse but, well, I think he managed it better than most could have." That was Loki… or Robin.
"This Hasegawa impress him." Said Nero. "He took a lot of risk to help you. Being discovered could had means a lot of bad stuff to him." A lot of risks, yeah, that was for sure.
But why did Nero keep calling their humans by their last names? They thought, because he was European, he would use their first names. Especially since they didn't have the habit of hearing people using their love ones' last names. Why didn't he use them?
Oh, umm, that was because he heard it was really rude to call Japanese people by their first name. Between them, they could use the first names, which was normal since they were teammates. But, as a stranger, he didn't want to be rude to them. So, he used only their last names. Was it bad too?
No… just… unexpected. They said it was nice from him to think about their comfort. But, if he wanted them to be true with him, they didn't mind him using their first names. If he needed permission, he could have it. No one in the team would mind. But they wouldn't say they didn't like the fact he was this thoughtful of their comfort. Even Goemon and Milady when their friends had translated everything to them.
When hearing this, Dante said something to his nephew. Something that seemed really weird to the team.
"Another reason of why your inner demon look like an angel, love."
"Shut up, old man." Blushed Nero before some phone noises distracted him. "That must be Kyrie." He left the table to check on his phone.
"I hope she has good news about the baby. This was the last programmed appointment, right?" Said Dante to his twin. This one nodded but didn't say a thing. He hoped his grandchild and favourite stepdaughter were fine and healthy.
They noticed the Phantom looked confused, realising they must be so lost about everything. Then, they realised they already told them that Vitali was 'Nero's husband.' They probably wouldn't have thought he also had a wife… well, two… and another husband.
Remembering something, Dante asked Jeanne if they were really a polyamorous group inside the Phantom Team. She nodded, saying that, in fact, the ten of them were tangled in the relationship, to different degrees. She was so confused, like the others.
It became clearer when Dante said that his nephew was poly too, having more than Vitali in his life: they were also their other husband, Credo, and their two wives, Nico, and Kyrie. Officially, Nero was only married to Kyrie, but they all loved each other dearly. Not in the same way but the Phantoms probably got his point.
And, if they were waiting for some news from Kyrie, back home, it was because she was pregnant with their first baby. The Phantoms faces illuminated when they realised what it meant. No Personae of the group had ever seen a real pregnant woman before. Neither a real baby. The only things they have were false memories of the lives their inspirations got. Their humans, for some, yes, had seen pregnancies and babies. But not them. They were so… curious. As cognitive being, that was something they couldn't really understand but it makes them wanted to learn more about it. Especially knowing that maybe, one day, their soul partners would want to be parents too.
Well, technically, Zenkichi was already a single dad to his teen daughter, Akane, but that was not the same thing. If their humans decided they wanted a baby, the Personae would like to be involved in the children's life. They even started to do research on the matters.
And, when Nero came back with wonderful news of his loves, he was surprised to hear them talking about parenthood while being in a polyamorous relationship. Apparently, the Phantoms were all too, polyamorous, and already read a lot of stuff about parenting and things alike. When they didn't receive advice from their eldest teammate, this one already having experience with parenthood.
Something they couldn't have seen coming, the Personae could be really vocal and loud about the humans' love lives. He was barely able to give his dad an update about his wife and the baby.
Granny, what an odd evening it was.