Author's notes: And here it is, the next confidant rank, the second part of the mega chapter I was cooking! A massive chapter in itself despite being a second part, but one I feel work better like that. With all the big events coming in a short span of time, I should have seen it coming. The next chapter shouldn't be as big despite the things that'll happen inside, but I'll see how it goes. I'm not going to hesitate in cutting it down to less sizeable bits if necessary.
With all that said, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!
The Aeon Rank 8: To Stand Together
Progressing in the dark and rocky tunnel that would hopefully lead them into the heart of the Palace, the white clad detective could not move on from what he had just witnessed. They had just spent two gruelling days reaching the Palace and cleaning its entrance of as many traps as possible to guarantee they would be able to escape it once it started to crumble. Usually it was never a problem for Akechi as the Palace would lose both its bound Shadows and its traps once its Ruler was killed, but with how abnormal this Palace was, Ritsuka convinced him they couldn't take more risks. And then they discovered that the entrance was sealed by this massive rock that would bulge for nothing, not even Almighty attacks.
"Hey, cheer up. We did get inside." She reminded him.
She had been the one to intuit first what the giant boulder represented: the myth of Amaterasu sealing herself in a cave, which was a strong possibility given how nationalistic Shido and his cronies claimed to be as well as the general atmosphere of the Palace, with nothing but moonlight and dark weather inside. The kicker was when they debated on how to open it.
"I'm not sure what's the dumbest thing: that it was necessary or that it worked." Growled Akechi.
"You must admit it was smart. You'd have no chance going through by yourself and given your usual attitude, the odds of having allies, sorry, a girl, to do it for you were slim. The Palade Ruler judged you well." The low giggle that escaped the girl only compounded his food mood further.
Akechi first thought of the mirror as the major element that would open the path, but the crude glassy surface forged in the beach sand with their Persona's fire proved useless. Then they had Ritsuka's avian Personae cry like the myth's roosters, but that too failed. And then… with a shit-eating grin, Ritsuka reminded him what exactly did brought Amaterasu out of her cave and led the rock to move.
"I would have found a way… though maybe not in time before being discovered. So take my thanks and let's never speak of this embarrassment again."
"You're welcome. Too bad the people who could have easily helped beside me won't anymore." Suddenly shot Ritsuka, switching in a heartbeat from teasing to accusatory.
"…"
He had nothing to retort. In the meanest irony he has seen in a while, the Phantom Thieves would have had little difficulty going through this obstacle. A heavy silence permeated their walk until they finally reached a sliding metallic door, the metallic construct jarring after the crude rocky tunnel.
"Now this is qualify as a workshop." Muttered Akechi.
The contrast between the exterior and interior was staggering. The island had been a desolate, wild place fit to be called uncivilized. The underground building, on the other hand, was cold and mechanical in its precision. A perfectly square room made of perfectly sculpted stone supported with steel, with two paths leading somewhere else. Inside the room was sculpted a large pentagram surrounding a tall transparent cylinder. And inside that container was a person, or rather, the desiccated remnants of a person.
"I think I recognize that man. He was one of the recent "suicide" in prison I investigated." Commented Akechi, looking closer while carefully not approaching the pentagram.
"He isn't dead. Not completely." Ritsuka's voice was filled with disgust as she approached as well. "His body's been kept in a sort of suspended animation."
"That would make sense…" It wouldn't be the most outlandish case of horror in a Palace… wait. "His body?" Repeated Akechi slowly.
"It's the real person. Not a cognitive construct." She crouched and examined the pentagram, following something he couldn't quite see.
"I never brought anyone or anything here. The bastard succeeded. He found a way to reach the Metaverse by himself." The realization settled in, cold anger seeping in his mind. How long has it been the case? Shido never said a thing, always needed him. Which meant… that he didn't know either. Yet.
"…" Ritsuka stood up, still examining the half-dead corpse in silence, an intense look of thinking on her face.
"What, you think you can do something? Forget it. If it isn't dead, it's going to be soon when the Palace crumble."
"… You're right. The best we can is help them move on." She turned to him, pointing at the ground. "There is a pattern here, going to both ways out. Only question is which one."
"There is an inclination. Subtle, but definitely going to the right." Indicated Akechi. "Let's go."
The two accomplices resumed their course, walking through a narrow corridor. The path was gently curving, until they arrived at another room. Identical in all way to the first, including the pentagram containing a cylinder with someone trapped inside.
"They may have been criminals, but nobody deserves that." Murmured Ritsuka, anger creeping in her voice.
"Starting to feel less conflicted about killing the bastard?"
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to hurt him right now."
Well, if every single room was like this one, a bit more and she would turn around and accept the necessity. He did this for his vengeance first, that it was going to be justice was a welcome bonus. And just as he predicted, the more they progressed the more they found traces of the horrific experimentations done by their target: beside the ever present half-dead prisoners, tables covered in notes and tools, even preserved body parts sometimes appeared more and more. They didn't dally to study them. There was neither time nor the need. Akechi himself was getting more and more disgusted as well. Killing was one thing, but what he was seeing went far beyond that.
"And here I thought we'd need even more efforts to reach the heart of this shitty Palace. I don't like it." Mumbled the detective as they took sharper and sharper turns.
"You'd be right to think that." Confirmed Ritsuka, her tone suspicious.
"And care to explain that?" Asked Akechi with little patience.
"All those rooms we are going through? I'd wager my right hand this is forming a yin and yang spiral if we looked at it from above. Combine that with the half-living prisonners we found; this entire place is one giant ritual ground. And I'd wager my other hand the center where the Shadow and its Treasure will be."
"I'm going to disappoint you and not follow the bet." Though it didn't paint a pretty picture, what she said made sense.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the cold chambers, the turns becoming progressively smaller and smaller as they approached to the heart of the Palace. He was getting excited, vengeful anticipation coursing through his veins as both Loki and Robin Hood seemed to shiver within him. It was, in a way, a repeat, an appetizer, a prologue to the hell he would thrust Shido into once he would have been elected Prime Minister, by revealing to the world the shame of his existence and all of his crimes. What if society fell into chaos afterward? He didn't care one bit. Society had been nothing but contemptuous and unfair, now it was his turn. And should things not go as planned… a bullet would be all he'd need, in that world or another. They stopped. A door. The first door they had found in all this underground complex. Open.
"How lovely. And I expected to blow something to smithereens to reach the center." Sneezed Akechi. "Let's not make our host wait, shall we?"
Ritsuka nodded conservatively. She was looking more and more tired as time went on. Was it the number of Personae she carried? He couldn't fathom how she could manage so many of them. With how imposing each of his own was in his own mind, how exhausting having so many of them be?
"What do we have here."
The head researcher's Shadow was here, his mere voice making Akechi's blood boil. Turning his back to them, Inshin Gyoja was standing at the center of a complicated circle made of thousand symbols, as arrogant and cold as ever. Even the Shadow's voice was exactly like the original, making it difficult for him to contain himself.
"It looks like you know who we are. Good, it makes the whole thing quicker." Drawing his gun, Akechi pointed it at the Shadow, his white suit burning away to reveal his Black Mask attire.
"Fujimaru Ritsuka, may I ask the reason of your arrival? I was led to believe you came to our mutual benefactor to pursue the greatness the Clock Tower denied us."
"Don't you dare ignore me." Akechi shot, but the laser crumpled and disappeared on an invisible protection. "Tch."
Before Akechi could attempt another attack at the bastard not even taking him into account, the man faced them. With perfectly human brown eyes and a cold, detached face that was imprinted in the detective's mind, yet the menacing aura surrounding him was unmistakable.
"He has fused with his Shadow." Muttered Ritsuka.
"That's…" He would have said impossible, but everything in this anomalous Palace seemed to indicate that it was a very real possibility. "Well, that makes things even simpler."
"Do not take me for those fools who do not comprehend the power of this place." The researcher's voice had the echo characteristic of Shadows, yet everything about him screamed human, down to the clean researcher coat he was wearing.
The magic circle around him suddenly glowed brightly. Before Akechi could react, symbols everywhere on the walls, ceiling and floor shone blindingly.
"Loki!"
The stripped Persona appeared, glowing sword in hand and ready to-
"ARHHH!"
A white-hot pain pierced his head as an invisible pressure crushed his mind. Loki was frozen in the air, static like interference coursing through its form as Akechi clawed at the ground, fallen without even realizing it.
"Persona, was it? I have analysed your power to its smallest details. There is nothing you can do here."
"Don't-haaaargh-don't fuck with me! Robin Hoo-!"
Right as he tried to call to his other self the pain increased tenfold. Writhing and crying, he tried to do something, to grab something, to formulate a plan, but he was unable to think of anything but the liquid fire burning his brain.
"Now that we will not be interrupted, let us discuss like civilized people. Are you perhaps here to negotiate a cooperation between magi, Fujimaru Ritsuka? I applaud your forwardness in bringing an advance payment, as uncooperative as it may be."
"You are mistaken. I will not give you Akechi-kun." Quietly informed Ritsuka, her voice somehow intelligible through the fog of suffering.
"Ah, I see. You are here to take my researches and my workshop. A regrettable turn of event, one I would ask you to reconsider. Think how far we may be able to reach, working together."
"I'm here to stop you." Reaffirmed the girl. "You won't sacrifice anyone else for your twisted experiments."
"These? They are hardly worth mentioning. Extracting their Shadow is a difficult process, but one I am close mastering. I will soon not need to bring them here at all."
"Then I can't back down now."
"… Do realize you have no chance against me." A sound. Steps? He could barely tell, his vision hazy, hurting. "This fine Workshop was made to neutralize and collect the power of Shadows and Personae, and I know for a fact you have neither enough talent nor power to face me as a magus."
"… You're right. I'm barely fit to be called a magus. And I can see now you intend for this workshop to become the drill to pierce through the Metaverse to reach its core. You think a path to the Root lay in its heart."
"So you found out about it… Once again, I would ask you to reconsider your course of action. While the path to the Root will be mine alone to tread, I am certain we can find an arrangement."
"Not going to happen. Because you made a single mistake."
"I do not believe it to be the case. You are powerless."
"I am." She acknowledged.
"We aren't." Intervened an unknown voice.
A sonorous detonation almost shattered Akechi's eardrum. The pain instantly faded and his vision came back. Despite the runes and symbols everywhere losing their brilliance, the remaining light allowed him to bear witness to the scene in front of him. Ritsuka was here, visibly tired and her Metaverse suit fading like morning dew to reveal casual clothing. Around her stood four of the Persona he has… Personae? Those things… his scanning ability was going on overdrive. How had he been blinded for so long? These monsters were not Personae! Standing up with a jump and a snarl, Akechi stared at the creatures around the girl. The red horseman, the man horse with fiery green eyes, the blackbird and the massive armored leonide centaur. All of them he had seen before, all of them he was now seeing as if a veil had been taken away.
"You… Curse you!" A ghastly wail assailed his hearing. Inshin Gyoja floated from a dent in the opposite wall, a rictus of pure hatred deforming his traits. "I'm so close to reaching it! I will reach it, I will attain the Root soon! I won't be stopped by an inconsequential brat or a fourth-rate magus with a few familiars! Come to me, my servants! Kill these miscreants!" Bellowed Inshin Gyoja, and from a surge of shadows emerged four massive figures; a demon with golden skin, another wielding a large metal club, a third with a double blade and a hole for a face, and the last dressed in all black with a staff ending on crescent moon blades on both ends.
Akechi instantly analysed the battlefield. The magic pentagram on the ground was scorched and broken, its power gone, but the symbols everywhere else were still active. What it did, he had no clue yet beyond empowering their foe, but at least the protection he had was gone.
"I'll take the small fries! Go for the boss!" Commanded Ritsuka as her creatures exploded into motions.
Akechi bolted and skirted around the spells and physical shockwaves that had started to be thrown everywhere, running on the wall with renewed fury to reach the seething researcher.
"You insect!" Threatened Inshin, creating a massive fireball rolling toward him.
"Loki!" The detective dodged and manifested his Persona.
Debilitating energies coursed from him and stuck to his enemy without effect. Jumping from the wall he rolled to avoid a lightning bolt and cocked his gun, shooting dead on the chest of his target. Each impact had no effect beyond enraging the researcher further, who called upon a blizzard.
"Megidolaon!" The massive explosion of energy dispersed the ice, once again without damaging his foe. How could this be? This wasn't a normal protection, or else Almighty would have worked!
"You only delay your defeat! I'm invincible!" Boasted Inshin before sending a wave of darkness.
The cursed energy did nothing but impair Akechi's vision and he jumped away, a wise decision as he almost was sucked into a great tornado conjured by his foe. Once again summoning Loki he switched tactic and sent a rain of kinetic bullets from above, yet no damage seemed to be done to the enemy.
"Aaaaargh!"
On the other hand, the intricates symbols and spells on the walls weren't so lucky and they were torn apart, their light dispersed. He wasn't sure what effect it would have beyond enraging the enemy, but everything was good to try for now! A death rattle from the other side of the room, and Akechi noted the Shadows falling and disappear as Ritsuka's creatures destroyed them.
"Ignorant minx! This is useless! My familiars will return again and agai-"
"Persona!" Loki appeared again and swung his brilliant sword.
The researcher was too slow to protect himself and the blade dug deep in his false flesh, cutting an arm. Akechi smirked devilishly as the freshly cut member fell on the ground, yet as the four Shadows re-appeared the next instant, blood ceased to flow, and the limb regrew. Only vulnerable when all four of his flunkies were dead? What an annoyance!
"Tch. The next time I'm taking your head!"
"You brat! There won't be a next time!"
"Yes there will be! Inshin, fusing with your Shadow was a mistake!" Exclaimed Ritsuka. "Your familiars are Sui-Ki, Fuu-Ki, Kin-Ki and Ongyo-Ki, and one sorcerer alone commanded them! Your Shadow is Fujiwara-no-Chikata, the sorcerer who tried to overthrow the imperial family!"
For a second, nothing changed. Then boiling darkness rolled out and transformed the researcher. His skin turned ghastly grey, ancient imperial court robes replaced the modern suit, and a katana appeared in his clawed hand. A cunning and vengeful old man with furious yellow eyes stared at them.
"Is that it? Because you have discovered my other self's identity and forced me to take his form, you think anything will change?"
"Yes! Akechi, hold them back!" Commanded Ritsuka, looking paler than ever. "I need just one moment, and we'll win!"
"You better be right!" Snarled Akechi. "Manifest!"
Loki unleashed a Megidolaon, then another. The damaged Shadows emerged from the light and smoke, and he had to intercept them physically. Akechi growled in pain as Sui-Ki's club struck Loki's flank and dodged aside to strike at the Fuu-Ki with his sword, piercing its legs. A powerful impact sent him reeling as the Kin-Ki barrelled and pushed his Persona aside, and only his instinct saved the detective when the crescent blade of the Ongyo-Ki descended from behind and almost bisected him. Lightning crashed down from Inshin palm and Akechi screamed at the electricity coursing through.
"You can't hurt… me…!" He growled. "Megidolaon!"
The Almighty explosion blew away the four Shadows, but it didn't manage to finish them off, with the researcher already preparing another massive ball of fire…
"Now!" Yelled Ritsuka.
"Hear us, and see History repeated!" Akechi looked behind. This time, he was certain. The voices that belonged to neither Ritsuka nor anyone he knew came from the four creatures all surrounded by shining aria written in the air. "All things, whether grass or tree, are ruled by the Emperor, and not even a devil can turn his back to the Emperor and live in this land!"
Instantly, something seemed to break, how he couldn't explain. Yet the results were immediate as the researchers screamed in rage and the four Shadows dissipated like smoke in the wind, the fire he summoned sparking out and the pentagrams and symbols of the room cracking and disappearing. Time seemed to slow down as panic wrote itself on his prey's face, and Akechi gleefully held his sword high and charged. Now for the kill…!
"No!" Cried out the researcher, and the world seemed to shift…
Akechi suddenly fell and barely caught himself on his hands and knees. He couldn't sense Loki. Or Robin Hood. He wasn't in costume. The ground, it wasn't stone, it was wood, normal wood, electric lights above. Somehow, they left the Metaverse!
"You dammed kid…!"
He looked up and found the researcher, human once again, standing shakily near a door with fury and disbelief warring for his expression. Akechi knew this place, it was where the man asked him to visit the Metaverse last, an old building in reconstruction!
"Checkmate!" Growled Akechi, drawing his gun-
A colossal pressure fell upon him and he was flattened to the ground, unable to reach for his weapon. In the researcher's hand an ofuda inscribed with the 'gravity' word was shining. What the fuck. That was impossible. They weren't in the Metaverse, that sort of things shouldn't be possible!
"You're dead! You're both dead!" Hysterically yelled the researcher as the pressure increased, an atrocious pain spreading as Akechi heard his skull start to bend. "Once I'm…"
Whatever Inshin was about to say next, Akechi would never know. The words stopped instantly, silenced as a long metallic spear pierced his heart and skull in quick succession. The red knight upon its black horse held the corpse upright, suspended to its weapon, before unceremoniously withdrawing it and letting it fall like a bloody slump of flesh.
"It is over." Said the knight with a voice that made all of Akechi's hair on his arms stand.
The pressure ceased. Standing up, his arms and leg shaking, the detective looked back. Looked at Ritsuka, deathly pale but defiant, her left hand clenched in the other, the pale red tattoo gleaming on her flesh as the creature returned to her side, the slamming of hoofs against the wooden floor cementing its presence in the real world. The events of the fight replayed within in his mind until a single, implacable conclusion was reached.
"You aren't a Persona user… what the hell are you?"
"That's a big question, Akechi. And I don't think that's what you want to ask me right now, isn't it?"
"The hell are you…"
As he pronounced these words, his tongue froze. The scenes from earlier replayed within his mind. Particular words before the cylindric container, the fleeting feeling when they returned to the real world, almost without realizing it, and yet, that he had felt before when Sae-san had shown him the phone before he want to…
"That little…" The truth was bare before him, stinging, humiliating, yet undeniable. "He's still alive. I never killed him. I… I was tricked! You knew! You agreed to help me so I would have my attention elsewhere, so I would act predictably and fall in their trap… and the most ironic thing is, you never lied! You didn't do anything when he was captured. You didn't help him escape. You just never told me he was dead. You have shown me the group chat where they all acted lost, but you never posted anything! You simply told them everything with another device! Hahahahahaha! You made a dammed fool out of me!"
Ritsuka didn't move a muscle during his entire rant. A multitude of contradicting emotions conflicted within him, from anger to disappointment to relief. Why was he feeling fucking relief? His hands were trembling, his legs shaking, and the monster next to Ritsuka still here! What was even that? He was about to speak, when something rung. A sound so ordinary, so incongruous, it stopped him in his tracks. Mechanically, Ritsuka took her phone out of her pocket and took the call.
"Yes, Shido-san?"
"Listen well. I have a favor to ask of you." Came the voice of the politician from the phone. It took an instant for Akechi to realize she put it on speaker so he could hear as well.
"What might that be?"
"It's about the loyal customers of our mental shutdown business. I want you to eliminate those that seem the most suspicious."
What's got into him? So soon before the election? Didn't the imbecile realize how suspicious it would look to the public?
"Did something happen I should prepare for?" Asked Ritsuka with her professional voice.
"Nothing in particular. But if something were to happen, it would already be too late." Shido's tone was nervous. Irritated. Strange.
"Very well. I will ask Akechi for their files."
"Good. For the sake of absolute victory, I need all roots of anxiety to be pulled as soon as possible."
The call ceased, Shido had hung up. Akechi would have been puzzled before. But not anymore, not now.
"They're in his Palace. They managed to get the letters of recommendations or are about to get the last one." Whispered Akechi, something resembling respect coming from his voice before he could squash it.
"It looks like it. They should be able to reach the Treasure room and make the calling card soon."
Those words were the whiplash he needed to get out of his strange stupor, but when he turned to leave the room…
"What are you going to do?" Asked Ritsuka, her low voice keeping him back like an iron chain.
"Can't you guess? Me and the Phantom Thieves are going to have a little chat on daddy dearest's boat." Spat Akechi. "Why? What does it matter?"
"Can't you guess? I'm their friend. And yours. I don't want to see you kill each other."
"FRIEND? You…! You…" He wanted to scream at her, to call her out on her deception, on her half-truths, that everything she said and did with him must have been part of the lie all the way back to that moment in Mementos together, and yet… and yet… he would be the one lying. And, as much as he loathed to even admit that weakness, he didn't want to lie to her.
"You both want the same thing, Ren and you. Why fight against it?"
"Just like that? Just like that? You know how long I've been planning this! How much I've sacrificed only for that single moment! And you want me to accept another outcome?"
"Would it be that different from what you wanted?" She asked, blowing the wind out of his sail.
She approached. She was walking toward him. His hand twitched, near the gun, ready to draw, ready to defend himself…
"Can't you see how there can be more than just vengeance in your life? How you can be more than just whatever Shido or the public want you to be? The Phantom Thieves may never forgive you for what you did, but they will understand. Ren will understand, and you know it as well. You don't have to end your life alone, as a regretful avenger with naught but ashes and corpses around you."
He didn't want to hear her words make sense, he didn't want them to make sense, he wanted to rage, to yell how much satisfaction it was going to bring him to finally see the world come crashing down on the piece of shit that made his life hell before he was even born… nothing came out. A void of word as deep as the void left by the vision of the corpse a few meters away, where the glee he always imagined should have been. Slowly, almost regretfully, Akechi put his pistol away, back in his suit. What could he do, really? Ritsuka had powers in the real world. She could have taken him out at any moment. Even now, pale as sheet and exhausted as she was, she has a strength he never thought possible.
And that was the last thought that broke through his denial. She could have simply waltzed in and killed Shido. Even before he told her the truth of his plans, she could have eliminated him as well. And Ritsuka didn't. She could have delayed their assault on the researcher's Palace, or even led him in a wild goose chase, and he would have likely only found out too late. She could have tied up and thrown him in any dark waste until the Phantom Thieves had finished with Shido. And she didn't. She held her part of he bargains, she helped him by risking her life, killed to save him despite her repeated disgust for the very idea… and…
"… Let's make a deal. One last deal, accomplice to accomplice." He managed to say, his voice more pathetic than he ever heard. "Let me face them. I can't let it end like this, not after everything. I can't. But I promise to you, just like last time… I will only go after Joker. Please." God, he was pleading. He was pleading her.
She looked at him sadly. Not with the pity he was expecting, but with a true, sincere sadness he simply couldn't bring himself to be mad about, something he suspected was truly born of having seen someone take the same path.
"… Go." She finally said, turning away from him. "Go. I will wait for you at Leblanc. And for them."
She… really believed what she said. Why did it hurt so much to hear? Sending one last wary look at the demonic knight standing guard, Akechi straightened his limbs and ran out of the building. The metro wasn't far, and the Palace not that much further. There was still some time. He was going to catch the Phantom Thief, and then… who knew.
"Master, I cannot agree with this course of action." The dignified voice of Eligos boomed in the room. "And neither do twenty-four others among us. Death looms in this path, and the odds are unfavorable."
"What of the rest?" Asked Ritsuka, sitting exhausted and leaning on a wall.
"Twelve are indecisive. Four are in agreement."
"Glad to see some of you trust me." She joked weakly. "Maybe it's wrong, but… I have faith in Akechi, and the Phantom Thieves. I believe they'll find a way."
"Faith. Is this what it comes down to?"
"Yes, Eligos. It is."
The Demon God stood silent, having dematerialized as soon as the Persona user left the building. He couldn't condone this choice. Only the most eccentrics among them like Raum did.
"Very well. We shall observe the conclusion of this day to the end. Should we dispose of the corpse, Master?" He asked instead of continuing a fruitless debate.
Ritsuka Fujimaru looked over the body, underneath which a pool of blood was slowly accumulating.
"I wish it could have ended another way. Had I been stronger…"
"This is the path he has chosen."
"But those people he took didn't." She whispered, crestfallen.
Vepar briefly manifested, his power rotting the body at such a quickened pace nothing was left in a single minute. The Pillars consulted each other on the next course of action, trying to come to a consensus. What came out was one simple fact: their Master dangerously overtaxed their Magic Circuits, they needed rest before anything else.
"You need rest. We recommand leaving this place."
"Yeah, I know. I'll be going to Leblanc in five… ouch." Trying to rise, their Master had fallen right back on the ground with an exasperated groan. "Make it ten minutes."
A lone figure jumped from the pipes above, landing right in the path of the Phantom Thieves. Joker stopped in his tracks, halting the advance of his friends. Wary and ready, he observed a familiarly unfamiliar silhouette come into the light.
"Long time no see." Greeted Akechi mirthlessly.
He wasn't wearing the white and gold costume they associated with Robin Hood. Clad in black and wielding a red jagged sword, a horned helmet with red eyeglasses upon his head. They were before the true Akechi, the merciless killer of the conspiracy. The Black Mask.
"You?!" Blurted a stupefied Skull.
"Why's he here?" Asked Oracle with dread, her navigator ability powerless to detect his presence, just like in Okumura's Palace.
"Humph… I'm impressed that you managed to deceive me. It seems I underestimated your abilities." Akechi may have seemed to talk to all of the Phantom Thieves, but his eyes were squarely locked on Joker. "You truly are interesting… Quiet, yet possessing the courage and determination to take action. Under different circumstances, we could have been great rivals… or perhaps even friends."
"We're already rivals." Countered Joker without hesitation. If there was anyone he would ever call that, it was only Akechi.
He couldn't properly see the expression of the Black Mask easily behind his helmet, but his mouth was still visible. And the smile that appeared on his rival's lips, the chuckle that followed, were unmistakable.
"How wonderful! You don't allow yourself to be enslaved by such things as human relationships or past selves… and so your heart is always free. The exact opposite of mine. To be honest, I'm envious…" The smile disappeared. "I wonder why we couldn't have met a few years earlier, Ren…"
Time seemed to stop as Joker's understanding of Akechi grew. And to his surprise, as the voice whispered familiar words, it was as if Akechi was, too, present during that stolen moment, their gaze crossing with an unknown, yet intimately personal understanding.
"But that didn't happen. We can't change what has happened, no matter how we may wish so..." Said Akechi when they came back to the present.
"How are you here? Where's Ritsuka?"Asked Panther worryingly.
"Do you really have time to worry about someone else right now?" Snarled Akechi, pointing his sword at Joker.
"Akechi! Why are you cooperating with someone like Shido?" Queen interjected, spilling the questions she has mulled over ever since they reached the Palace. "Don't you see what this Palace looks like? His true nature is-"
"Cooperating? What are you talking about…?" A realization seemed to dawn upon the Black Mask. "And here I thought she told you everything. I'll make it clear, then. I don't care about this country. All of this is to make Masayoshi Shido… my father… acknowledge me. Then exact revenge on him."
That revelation instantly recontextualized everything Joker knew, and as Akechi exposed his past and his plan to the rest of the Phantom Thief, they finally discovered exactly how deep and twisted the reasons pushing him to act truly were. A wounded, hateful child grasping at the first opportunity to hurt a world that rejected him, building a fortress of lies atop a foundation of corpses for the approval of a monster he nonetheless wanted to bring down.
"What a warped thought… It's almost pitiable." Whispered Fox, a conclusion Joker shared with regrets.
"Pitiable? Don't lecture me, you piece of shit!" Cursed Akechi, slashing the air with his sword. "In just a few weeks, my plan would have come to fruition! Why did you have to interfere and try to ruin everything?!"
"Please stop!" Shouted Panther, indignant. "We both hate the same guy! Why should we go against each others?"
"Shido doesn't care about you. He has even started to replace you with Ritsuka, despite everything you did for him. He'll never acknowledge you. You know that." Said Queen, her words seemingly striking a cord.
"But!… I…!"
"This ain't about what Shido says!" Skull interjected as Akechi's words failed him. "You're your own person! You gotta know that!"
"And… you don't really disagree with Joker, do you?" Pointed out Mona. "That smile when you told us you wished to have met before all this… isn't that your true feelings? Even if you think people will hate you and won't want you around, that's not…"
"Shut up!" Shouted Akechi, the faint figure of an indistinct Persona pulsating behind him. "I was extremely particular about my life, my grades, my public image, so someone would want me around! I am an ace detective!… A celebrity! And yet once I'm done, do you think I'll have anything left?"
"Akechi…" Whispered Noir as she understood the implications.
"People will find out my past deductions were just charade! My fame and trust will vanish, and my life will end in the same way it started! And if that's how things must be... I'm not letting it go any way but my own!"
A burst of red energy surrounded the Black Mask, and from it emerged the silhouette they faintly saw earlier: with its body covered in dazzle camouflage, golden hooves and horns coming out of its eyes, it looked like a true demon, an impression further reinforced by the burning blade it was sitting on arrogantly.
"You're not satisfied with where we left it earlier either, are you?" Whispered Akechi to Joker with a deranged smile as he referred to their past duel. "Then you and I are going to strike and strike again until one of us is dead!"
"No way we're going to let you kill Joker!" Contested Oracle, Prometheus surrounding her and rising from the ground.
"Out of my way, you trashes! I promised I'd only go after Joker, but I'm not going to hesitate cutting you all down if you're in my way!" Yelled Akechi, a dark aura surrounding him.
"Promised?" Picked up Fox, surprised.
"I'm not going to let let you be better than me… I'm not letting some criminal trash living in an attic have things I don't!"
"Dammit, he's isn't backing down! We have to fight!" Said Mona.
"Die!"
With that desperate and furious cry the Black Mask attacked. The entire team jumped back to avoid taking a Megidolaon point blank, the massive explosion singing Joker's cape rather than burning his body to a crisp. Ritsuka had warned them Akechi was strong, but they didn't expect him to be that strong, and they just came out from fighting numerous Shadows and the cleaner! With everyone scattered by the explosion they assaulted Akechi from every angles, trying to avoid a direct individual confrontation.
"Persona!" Shouted Fox, Susano-o swinging his massive katana with lightning speed.
The red blade intercepted it and pushed the deity back before unleashing a Riot Gun. Joker only narrowly switched Persona to nullify the assault as the damages caused by the bullet rain almost put half of the team out of commission. Before Joker could switch again to a support Persona he had to precipitately guard the Brave Blade coming down from Akechi, groaning in pain as the impact lacerated his suit.
"Witness my resolve!" Zorro appeared and a wind of healing magic surrounded them and closed their wounds.
"Eat this!" Lighting fell from the sky at Skull's command and damaged Loki.
"Pardon me!" A psychedelic spiral of mental energy got a raging groan from Akechi, preventing him from dodging the next attack.
"Dance, Hecate!" A pillar of fire engulfed the black and white Persona, forcing it to retreat.
Loki was frighteningly strong, but they had the number and teamwork advantage.
"Get burned yourself, imbecile!" Shouted the Black Mask.
He spawned numerous fiery conflagrations and Fox didn't manage to dodge them in time, burning him and distracting him enough to leave him wide open.
"Oh no you don't!" Shouted Queen. "Anat!"
The living motorcycle jumped ahead and created a massive nuclear fire to screen Akechi away from Fox as Panther summoned Hecate to heal the latter, but instead of going at their downed teammate…!
"Joker!" Shouted Futaba as he blocked Crow's jagged sword with his knife, panting at the effort it asked.
Plunging his gaze inside that of his rival, Joker didn't find as much of the raving hatred and jealousy their former companion had thrown verbally before fighting them. It was there but there was also… uncertainty?
"Seiten Taisei!"
They broke the engagement as the Monkey King manifested from Ryuji and slammed into Loki, throwing the Black Mask away.
"Support is on the way!" Following Oracle's warning Joker felt part of his energy return, leaving him ready for the next offensive.
"I'm not letting you off!" Yelled Akechi and Loki sent a massive physical shockwave.
"Astarte!" Called Noir, who erected a shield before it could reach Joker.
The rest of the group endured or dodge the attack while the portion destined to Joker was reflected by the Tetrakarn and sent back to its originator. Akechi growled in pain and his mask cracked, revealing a bleeding wound on his head as he stood up.
"Why are you... looking at me like that...!? I've... I've succeeded until now... all by myself...! I don't need... teammates... I don't..." He spat as if trying to convince himself, panting and exhausted, using his sword as a cane.
His gaze suddenly intensified. A shiver descended Joker's spine. Something was coming. At him. Something dangerous!
"Joker!" Cried Mona, but too late.
"Laevateinn!" Shouted Akechi.
Loki manifested and swung. Baleful purple energy emerged from the blade, directed right at him. An Almighty attack of immense power. Too fast to dodge. Too powerful to guard. From within his soul, he called upon the only thing that could protect him.
"Krishna!" A beautiful, blue-skinned young man with a flute appeared before him, the last Persona he obtained from the Aeon Arcana. "Infinity!"
A shining diamond shaped sphere encased Joker right as the attack reached him. A terrible screeching like that of a chainsaw against steel echoed in his ears as the two spells battled for supremacy and his spirit drained at an alarming rate. Until finally, the blade broke and the backlash sent Akechi to his knees. The Phantom Thieves were exhausted but determined, ready for their opponent to stand up once more. But it didn't happen.
"You ready to call it quits?" Asked Ryuji, lowering his mace.
The Black Mask's head rose up, the broken helmet leaving his exhausted, weary expression visible for all.
"… I know… I've had enough." Whispered Akechi, breath short and irregular as he stared at Joker. "… You're so lucky. Lucky to be surrounded… by teammates who acknowledge you… And once Shido confesses his crimes, you'll all be heroes… in the end… I couldn't be special…"
"Dude, you're more than special." Said Skull, to the Black Mask's surprise.
"It pains me to admit… but we only defeated you by teaming up." Admitted Queen in turn.
"If you've got more than one Persona, maybe you actually have the same kinda power as Joker's." Pointed out Oracle. "But you trusted no one, so you only got two Personae: one for your lies, and one for your hate. Still, you thought that was enough, right? That part I totally get."
"You excelled at everything over us… yet that was the one thing you lacked." Concluded Fox.
Joker watched as Akechi tilt his head aside, as if unable to stand up to their gaze any more.
"All rights, let's go back and get that callin' card ready!" Skull reminded them all of their priority, before addressing their fallen foe. "We're gonna take Shido down. What're you gonna do?"
"It's be a problem if you kept getting in our way. Wanna come along and help settle things?" Followed-up Panther, gesturing to the group.
"It's still not too late. We can change Shido's heart together. Even if he's your father… no, because he's your father!" Insisted Noir.
Akechi looked up, a strange mixture of forlorn and hopeful going through his face and posture.
"… you truly are all idiots."
A sudden movement at the edge of Joker's vision. Focusing on the darkness of the engine room, he noticed something approaching… another Akechi?
"That's Shido's cognitive version of Akechi!" Deduced Mona, seeing the thing looking exactly like Akechi in his detective attire.
Without hesitation, the Shadow took out a gun and pointed it… at Akechi.
"… I'll deal with the rest of you later." Threatened the Shadow.
Joker grit his teeth. It wasn't the usual cognitive double, he could see it with is third eye. It wasn't just strong, its presence felt heavy, as if it was an accumulation of security systems rather than a single entity.
"Captain Shido's orders. He has no need for losers." Declared this new enemy. "Well… this just move the plan up a little. He was going to get rid of you after the election anyway."
Horrified, the Phantom Thieves could only listen as the cognitive creation mercilessly mocked Akechi's desire for acknowledgement, how Shido knew from the very start who he was and still planned to get rid of him.
"I was wondering how he'd protect himself if I used my power to tear through his Palace." Coughed the Black Mask, standing up with difficulty by using his snapped sword as support. "To think he had planned this from the very start…"
Black puddles erupted from the ground as multiple Shadows appeared under the order of the cognitive monster, surrounding the real Akechi. The situation just went from bad to worse. In their current state, the double alone would have been too much. Joker furiously tried to think of something, anything that could get them out of this hornet's nest.
"But why waste something that can still be used? I'll give you one last chance. Shoot them, and you might delay your death." Cruelly asked the cognitive Akechi to the real one.
"You're just gonna kill him anyway!" Exploded Skull, acutely aware of their powerlessness.
A small chuckle interrupted him. A cynical, short laugh against its own author.
"Haha… Ritsuka was right. I've been nothing but an obstinate fool." Akechi drew his gun, pointing it directly at Joker.
Ren held Akechi's gaze. He refused to believe he would lower himself to that extent, and looking deep into his eyes… he noticed the Black Mask wasn't looking at him. His pupils were making a quick movement to something just on Joker's right, and his lips said… "Be ready". Or did they? Adamantly, Joker decided to believe in his rival. There was no way it would end like this.
"Yes… That's the you our captain wishes to see." Gloated the cognitive double, unaware.
"Don't misunderstand…" Akechi cocked his gun.
She was right. Ritsuka has been right all along. He has known it for a while now… and yet he still proceeded into the wrong path, with a literal deformed mirror about to end his life.
So you finally decide to listen.
Stronger than ever, no longer silent. The presence he has felt in his heart for quite a while, who truly started to take form after Ritsuka became his accomplice. The presence he tried to bury deep within as he invested himself fully into Loki to distort his own eyes, his own heart, to not face the truth.
How immaturely you wallowed in desperate emptiness.
Blood pumped in his ears, yet each word was an indescribable tremor.
How foolishly you spread evil to those who deserved it not.
Blood escaped his body slowly, yet the power surged ever higher.
"You're the one who's going to disappear!"
Akechi turned around and shot his double in the heart. The cognitive creation doubled over and kneeled, too stunned to react to what would follow.
If you wish to enact true vengeance, one unblinded by love and hate, call my name!
"Come! Dantes!"
Blue flames roared to life and incinerated the Shadows around Akechi as a new figure emerged from his shade on the ground. A faceless inferno with a vague humanoid form and black thunder cracking on its edges, yellow eyes ablaze inside the darkness. Joker contained his surprise and drew his own gun to shoot blindly at the spot Akechi's gaze had shown. A rectangular console on the edge of the stairs, the glass exploding to reveal a smashed red button.
"The watertight bulkhead door has closed. All personnel within the partition wall: evacuate at once." Announced a mechanical voice.
In the blink of an eye and the crack of thunder Akechi suddenly appeared on the ground beside Joker, as if had thrown himself to their side faster than anyone could see.
"You bastard…" Cursed the cognitive double with an unhinged expression as it took aim.
Joker and Akechi lifted their pistols and simultaneously pushed the trigger. The bullets flew straight and true and pierced the double in the heart and head, throwing it backward as an immense metallic wall abruptly rose from the ground and sealed it in the engine room.
"Holy crap, what was that?" Asked Mona with eyes big as saucers.
"Don't stand here… gawking, you fools!" Coughed Akechi, whose second wind seemed to be disappearing quickly.
"He's right, killing that double did something to the alarm! We need to get out of here stats!" Warned Oracle.
"What about the Treasure Room?" Asked Noir.
"If we stay any longer we will get trapped. We need to leave the Palace, now." Assessed Queen.
The Phantom thieves bolted out of there with Joker carrying a weakened Akechi to his feet, the alarm level steadily rising as they rushed to the front deck. Barely escaping an entire squad of security guards Shadows in the entrance hall, they walked outside exhausted in all respects and activated the Meta-Nav. The distortion faded away, leaving them stranded in the street outside the Diet building.
"I can't feel my legs." Panted Yusuke.
"Don't tell me…" Whizzed Ann. "Is everyone okay?"
"I think so." Said Haru. "Thanks goodness we still had medicine to administer."
"We have to leave…" Akechi unsteadily tried to stand on his own before Ren gripped him more tightly.
"You're in no shape to go anywhere alone." Pointed out Morgana.
"I know that… let's go back to Leblanc. Ritsuka is waiting for us there."
"She's alright?"
"Not so loud, idiot…" Winced Akechi at Ryuji's sudden outburst. "Of course she's fine. You think I could have come if she opposed it?"
"She let you come to us?" Aked a surprised Makoto.
"You're going to have to ask her. Also, I don't think it's a good idea for me to be seen with you, especially in public transportations. We need a disguise, or…" A resigned look passed on the detective's face as Ren smirked evilly, the same idea obviously going in both their mind.
Night had firmly fallen when the group finally reached Yongen-Jaya. To their collective relief, tomorrow was a day off, and so no one batted an eye at a group of young people in public transportation. When Ren pushed the door of Leblanc, he was welcomed by the sight of a very worried Sojiro behind the counter and a drowsy Ritsuka, no less than four empty cups of coffee in front of her.
"Thank goodness you're here. I was starting to be worry sick… you've someone with you?" Sojiro scratched his head. "Have I seen this guy before?"
A few exhausted laughs came from the Phantom Thieves as Akechi, completely dishevelled and Ren's glasses covering his eyes, groaned. Sojiro looked more attentively, his expression changing from confusion to harshness.
"I suppose you've got a very good explanation for this." Ren nodded, hoping the boss would understand. "I'll leave the shop to you. If anything happens… I'll be here."
As soon as the door closed, Ritsuka stretched with a loud yawn. Her eyes fell on the Phantom Thieves, then Akechi, then on Ren.
"Welcome back." She said with relief and exhaustion mixed. "I'm glad to see you all here."
"You've got some explaining to do." Demanded Ren.
"Oh you've no idea how much…" Muttered Akechi.
"Fair." Shrugged Ritsuka.
It took some reorganisation, but everyone managed to squeeze in a sort of round table by using the counter chairs as supplement. Akechi was isolated at the edge, something that seemed to perfectly work for him, with Futaba and Haru as far away as possible.
"Let's start with the head researcher of cognitive pscience. Inshin Gyoja. As you probably guessed, Akechi and I finished to infiltrate his Palace while you were in Shido's."
"Oh yeah. I completely forgot about that." Admitted Ryuji.
"It was worse than we thought. He had found a way to access the Metaverse without using the app, and abducted criminals inside to serve as test subjects. They were either dead, or barely kept alive in vegetative states."
Revulsion coursed through Ren as he remembered the way cognitive creations have been treated in the Palace they visited.
"We confronted the researcher who found a way to fuse with his Shadow, probably so he wouldn't be taken off-guard if someone invaded the Palace. But as we were about to defeat him he returned with us to the real world, hoping to leave us defenceless."
"It must have come to quite a shock to him to see it wasn't your case." Imagined Morgana, sitting on the table. "Oh, and to Akechi as well."
"To think I could have simply searched for her Shadow anytime…" Mumbled Akechi.
"Which is exactly why she came up with that masquerade in the first place." Severely reminded Yusuke.
"Where is the guy now, by the way? If you left his Palace, does that mean you had to go back inside to change his heart? Should we worry about him reporting to the conspiracy?" Asked Ann with curiosity.
"No need for that. He's dead." Declared Akechi as a matter of fact.
"You!…" Growled Ryuji until Ritsuka stopped him in his tracks.
"He didn't do it. I killed Inshin." Everyone looked at Ritsuka with disbelief, and she shook her head.
"Why?" Asked Futaba with a small voice.
"Reaching the heart of his Palace already took a lot, and then the fighting… when we emerged in the real world, I had too little strength left." Ritsuka looked at Futaba, remorseful. "I underestimated him, and he was about to kill Akechi… I just couldn't let it happen."
"Not again, uh." Whispered Makoto.
"Did he have a hidden pistol or something? I can't imagine you being taken unaware." Raised Haru timidly.
"That's the interesting question, isn't it? Turns out, I have been hearing quite the enlightening conversation in that Palace." The attention came back to Akechi, who gestured at Ritsuka. "Not that I'm not grateful to you… but I don't think you can hide any longer."
Ren watched as Ritsuka sighed, her eyes closed, and breathed several time. She was psyching herself up. What was she was about to tell them? What was that secret she had kept for so long?
"I'm glad Sojiro isn't here… everything I'll tell you here, you must repeat it to no one. Absolutely no one else, or something may happen to you. This is bigger than Shido's conspiracy, much bigger." She breathed one last time. "Magic is real, and is still in practice to this day. People who do so are called magus, or magi. And I'm one of them."
Silence. Stupor. Incredulity. The Metaverse was one thing, something that even some real world scientists have been researching, between Wakaba and Maruki. But magic… real magic?
"Some people are born with what they call Magic Circuits, a pseudo nervous system through which they can use magic, or rather, magecraft. It's either inherited through family, or something randomly obtained by mutation. I'm in the latter category, which is why my Circuits are really poor. I can't even cast spells on my own, which says about how bad I'm on that front." She laughed weakly, the awkwardness of the room reaching critical mass.
"The thing is, magecraft has pretty strict rules and principles. One of them is the idea of Mystery. Basically, the most well-known or understood a concept is, the less powerful the magic you can do with it become. Science marching on is literally killing magic. That's why magi are a secretive bunch who mostly work in family units or clans, each working on its own branch of magecraft. They take their secrecy really seriously, and they don't hesitate to brainwash people Men in Black style to keep it that way. Or worse, have them disappear. Which is why I really didn't want you guys to know about it."
"Wait wait wait wait, wait! Time out!" Protested Ryuji, frantically making a T with his hands. "There's another effin' conspiracy here?"
"Oh no, magi really don't care about mundane politic. They have their own to worry about." Ritsuka mirthlessly laughed. "The big place to be for the magic world is London, the Clock Tower. Imagine Hogwarts except almost every student is a Diet member with roughly the same moral compass as Shido. Never been here, but heard and seen enough people from there. Japan is seen as backwater and unimportant, but there's still some big names and families here, not even counting all the weird shit like some demon hunters clans still surviving to this day."
"And that Inshin was a magus, correct?"
"One point for the artist. Yeah, an omnyoji to be precise, with a nasty gravity spell that was going to turn Akechi to mochi."
That would explain how he caught them off-guard. Concealing a gun was one thing, but preparing for whatever weirdness someone using magic could do…
"Why was he interested in the Metaverse?" Asked Ren, curious.
"The big goal of more or less all magi is to find a way to reach the Root, the source of all existence. I'm not entirely sure what happens to them if they succeed. Anyway, Inshin was using the Metaverse as a new way to further his magecraft. Honestly, not a bad idea on his part, if completely amoral in the way he went at it. But that's magi for you: they simply operate on another level of morality, aka, little to none. Though in general, they don't meddle with government affairs or things like that. Inshin must have detected the existence of the Metaverse one way or another and considered joining Shido was the best way to progress."
"I think I'm going to faint." Said Ann, pale as a sheet.
"Time to learn the magic words: Don't worry about it. No, seriously, 99% of people will never come across or be impacted by anything supernatural related in their whole life." Reassured Ritsuka. "Though, I was unlucky enough to be in the 1%. Remember when I said I have shitty Magic Circuits? Turns out, I still had enough compatibility for a secret project from one of the Clock Tower lord, a bigwig by the name Animusphere. And thus after an unfortunate blood donation, apparently for research, I was pressured into joining the project in question. In Antarctica. For two years. Which is why you won't find anything about my scholarship anywhere you look, beyond the false data they put in here to satisfy the muggle side."
"That's why I couldn't find a single thing online. Those wizard don't seem to like technology at all." Mumbled Futaba.
"I could have kept investigated for a long time, it seems." Akechi seemed to share the same conclusion. "And what was that secret project?"
"Magic words." Just said Ritsuka. "And it's been dismantled, anyway."
"But Shido knows." Insisted the detective, which made everyone start to worry.
"Inshin told him about the world of magi, yes. That's what we talked about when he asked you to leave the room, and why he certainly considered I would be more valuable than you in the long run. Don't worry, I fed him lies and half truth, and without his pet magus Shido won't get anything anywhere on that front before you change his heart."
"I think I understand things better now. More or less." Admitted Makoto. "Though, I have another question now. Why" She pointed at Akechi. "did you let him come to us? What did you think would happen?"
"You aren't the only ones who asked me this. The Pillars, my demons, were mostly against it as well. They wanted me to neutralize him, preferably permanently."
"What delightful thing to know." The irony in his voice could bite a whole plate.
"But to make it short… I suppose you told them everything as well." She asked Akechi, who nodded sharply. "I didn't want to see you fight and kill each other. But I knew I couldn't convince Akechi by myself. His pride wouldn't allow it, he needed to be forced to see his error. So… I let him go, after he promised not to target anyone but his rival."
"That would explain his strange behavior during that battle." Mused Yusuke, reminded of the strange way he threatened the rest of the team to stand aside.
"I can't believe you made such a mad gamble once again. I thought we talked about this…" Complained Morgana. "Though I guess it did end better than we could have imagined."
"What happened down there? I'm getting dry talking all by myself." Said Ritsuka.
Ren watched his rival looking away, shame fleetingly present in his eyes, before reporting his attention to Ritsuka.
"Akechi found us, and we fought against Loki." Explained Ren. "After we beat him, a cognitive double from Shido's Palace appeared. Apparently, a defence mechanism made specifically to eliminate him if he ever turned against Shido."
"Not that he planned to keep me around after the election." Threw Akechi bitterly. "You were right. He was going to get rid of me anyway. Your arrival simply made him even less concerned about the consequences."
"We were all exhausted, and the cognitive double summoned a horde of Shadows on top of it. And then…" Ren glanced at Akechi, who made a small nod. "Akechi awakened a new Persona. One born from the bond between you two. Edmond Dantes."
"… what?" A small part of the leader of the Phantom Thieves felt very satisfied at the dumbfounded look on Ritsuka's face.
"A vengeful silhouette made of blue fire and dark lightening, with burning yellow eyes piercing the darkness. A striking appearance, especially compared to both Robin Hood and Loki." Appraised Yusuke.
"And it moved so fast too. Like, one second he was here, the next he was with us when that big wall rose up, trapping the cognitive double behind. I'm so glad he didn't use it against us." Shivered Futaba.
Ritsuka turned around… and slammed her face on the counter. Loudly.
"Fujimaru-san?" Asked a worried Haru.
"This is a joke. Tell me this is some elaborate prank. Please tell me you're possessed and it's not actually the Persona symbolizing our bond." She mumbled with a strange and desperate denial.
"Trying to run away from the product of our friendship? Oh no, you're going to take full responsibility for this, aren't you, my accomplice?" Pressed Akechi with gleeful vindication, clearly not getting the full picture but not passing the opportunity of watching Ritsuka squirm.
"… I'm so suing the Counter-Force once this is all over…"
"The what?" Quizzically asked Ann, tilting her head to better hear the muffled complaint.
"Magic words…"
"I don't wanna hear 'magic' from you ever again!" Yelled Ryuji.
Uncontrollable laughters erupted inside Leblanc, and for a brief moment Ren felt at peace. They were still on the brink, the revelations they just received mind-blowing, and Shido was far from outed, but… things were looking up. And beneath her comedic breakdown, Ritsuka, too, seemed more at peace than ever.
I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast nurtured a bond clad in the heart's strength,
This union, born and embraced by trust unyielding,
shall become the star that lights thy path,
Thou hast gained insightof the Aeon's truth, granting thee further power to tread the abyss…
Confidant: Ritsuka Fujimaru
Arcana: Aeon
Rank: 8
New ability: Decisive-Battle Strengthening
Increases the potency of Charge and Concentrate to x3 (from x2,5)