First Mate Violet: Hello students, so my twin may not be ready to helm the ship again. But do not fret, your substitute teacher will be happy to continue writing this in his stead. Now, settle down, and let's start class.

Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Fifty

[Opening Scene: Niijima Residence (Morning)
Theme of Niijima Residence: Way of Life ~Deep Inside My Mind Mix~ From Persona P3P]

The feeling in the air was tense as Haru, Hifumi, and Makoto sat at the table.

Across the table from them, Sae and Dr. Takemi sat side by side, with the latter digging into her plate of food. "Again, I am so sorry for the interruption, Sae-nee," Makoto said. "I was unaware of your company."

"That is fine," Sae answered.

"I didn't even know that you were…." Makoto paused.

"Into the same sex?" Sae asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Makoto admitted. "Not that it's anything to feel awkward or wrong about! Because it's not. You should love who you want to love, you know?"

Tae chuckled and said, "If it makes you feel better, this is a recent development, Kiddo."

"I understand," Makoto shyly murmured. "How recent, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Last night recent," Sae sighed.

"That's very recent," Hifumi whispered to Haru, who nodded in agreement.

"Makoto," Sae said. "This conversation will not be an easy one and I will need some time to think about what I wish to say."

"Just answer one question please, Sae-nee," Makoto requested. "Are you happy?"

Haru watched as surprise filled Sae's face. The older woman then smiled. "Yes," she replied.

"Then that's all that matters to me," Makoto replied.

Sae nodded.

"I do apologize for interrupting something so private…." Makoto apologized.

"There is no need to apologize. How were you supposed to know I was even home? I haven't been here since…." Sae paused, an unsure expression on her face. "That night," she lamely finished.

"Yes, but I still should have done my due diligence," Makoto said. "It was unwise to assume that I would be alone, even if past experiences said otherwise…."

"Oh, it's like looking at the past," Tae said. "She's exactly like you were back at Gekko, Sae."

The Niijima sisters flushed.

"Speaking of your guests," Sae hastily said. "Tōgō-san, Okumura-san, what brings you both here with my sister?"

"I was inviting her to stay over tonight," Haru said. "We came over to get some sleeping supplies for her."

"Oh, that's lovely," Sae said.

"Will you be staying over as well, Takemi-san?" Makoto asked, only to blush and cover her mouth when she saw Sae blush. "Oh! I'm sorry! Should I have not asked that?"

Tae laughed and answered, "Oh yeah, she's definitely your sister."

Sae nudged her and muttered, "Quiet you."

"As for your answer, it depends on if I have any clients today," Tae answered. "And if Sae invites me over again."

"A strong possibility," Sae admitted. "As for you, Makoto, that's fine. You are more than welcome to spend the night out with your friends. Just do not allow your studies to falter, alright?"

Makoto nodded and stood from her chair. "Well, we better grab those items. Thanks for the food, Sae-nee," Makoto said.

Haru stood bowed to Sae. "It was very delicious. Thank you," she said with a bow.

"You're welcome," Sae said.

Hifumi stood up and gave a brief bow then walked off after Makoto and Haru.

Once the trio got into Makoto's room, Makoto took a deep breath. "I am so sorry," she said to the two of them.

"No worries, nothing to be embarrassed about, really," Haru consoled as she placed a hand on Makoto's shoulder.

"Seriously," Hifumi said with a smile. "They could have been having…." Hifumi flushed. "Never mind."

Haru and Makoto blushed, catching on to what Hifumi failed to put into words. "But," Haru said. "How do you feel about this, Makoto? Truly?"

"Truly? I feel angry," Makoto admitted. "Not at the fact that she and this woman are together. But I never even had a clue that she was into women."

Makoto balled her fists.

"To find out like this makes me realize I don't know my sister," Makoto said. "I didn't even know she had a friend. She keeps me so far out of her life that when something like this happens, I'm left struggling for words. Would she have ever told me? Or would she continue to treat me like….like…."

Makoto took a deep breath and whispered, "Forget it…."

Haru and Hifumi exchanged a look. "Makoto, maybe we should—" Haru was interrupted by Hifumi's phone going off.

Hifumi looked at her phone and said, "Great. My mother…."

She answered the phone and greeted, "Hello, Mother."

Hifumi's eyes widened in horror. "Y-You what?!" she exclaimed.

Haru and Makoto looked at one another in concern.

[Scene Change: The Crazy Diamond (Afternoon)
[Theme of Investigation: Time Castle from Persona 2: Innocent Sin]

"Any luck?" Mona asked as Mage stared at his computer screen with a frown.

He rubbed his eyes and huffed, "Nothing on Principal Kobayakawa. The guy is like a ghost. No internet presence at all." Mage crossed his arms and pouted.

Mona growled. "Well, that's one lead down, anything on Hasegawa Zenkichi?" the bipedal phantom thief asked.

Mage's eyes immediately lit up. "Oh yes, I managed to find out quite a b-bit on the detective," Mage excitedly answered. "Okay, here is what I have.

Name: Hasegawa Zenkichi
Age: 40
Occupation: Kyoto Prefectural Police, Public Security Intelligence Agency officer, and single father.
Martial Status: Widower."

"Um, Mage?" Mona questioned. "Why is his marital status important?"

"Because it's on the Kyoto Prefectural Police database," Mage answered. "Anyways, he's been an officer since his early twenties. He was married but it looks like his wife was killed in a drunk driving accident. It seems like there was a suspect."

"Oh?" Mona asked.

"Yeah. His daughter, Hasegawa Akane. Apparently, she fingered Chief Cabinet Secretary Ōwada Jun as the driver, but his secretary admitted fault shortly before they committed suicide," Mage answered.

Mona narrowed his eyes in thought. "But that doesn't explain why he's here and not in Kyoto," Mona said.

"Yeah, but at least we know a little more about his story," Mage offered.

"True, but we need to know more, and there is only one way to do that," Mona said.

"What are you thinking?" Mage asked.

Mona grinned and said, "Tell the others I won't be back for a little while."

Mage blinked.

"Why?" he asked.

Mona hopped off the table to the open window, looked back at Mage and said, "Because this Phantom Thief is going undercover."

With that, Mona jumped out the window, landed on the ground and ran away.

[Scene Change: Museum of Vanity (Golden Stairways)
Theme of Palace: A Woman ~Another Version~ from Persona 5]

"Ah, it's ugly!" Skull and Lioness cried as the Strikers of the Phantom Thieves stood in the vast, glittering, and confusing area of the palace.

From the moment they got into the palace, they fought their way through the endless hallways, security areas, and puzzles, but something about this area told Joker that they were near the end.

"It's so gold," Panther whined.

"It's actually burning my eyes," Lioness winced.

"I wonder why it looks so chaotic here compared to everything else," Fox murmured.

"The distortion is bad here," Joker answered. "It's barely holding up. Lioness, check the map."

Lioness nodded and opened the map, only to blink. "This location is not even on the map," she said.

"Which means we must ascertain the truth with our own eyes," Fox said to the group. "But it is a terrifying notion that there is even more to this twisted and opulent world. It sickens me that I was a part of it."

"Don't blame yourself, Fox," Joker said as he placed a hand on the taller thief's shoulder. "However, I'm not looking forward to traversing this….."

"Then let's not! Captain Kidd: Set Sail!" Skull shouted.

From the golden void in front of them, the air rippled as bolts of lightning crackled against it. Suddenly, Captain Kidd sailed from the ripple and into the air, a trail of electricity following him as he sailed through the air in a circle.

"What a theatrical entrance," Fox said, pleased.

Captain Kidd slowed to a stop next to the platform they were on. "Permission to come aboard?" Lioness asked Captain Kidd.

The persona snorted and motioned for them to get on. The group got on board and Skull said, "Alright, let's circle the joint until we find what looks like an exit. Let's go, Captain!"

The persona sailed into the air while the group focused on their surroundings. "I spotted an exit!" Panther exclaimed as she pointed at a platform nearby. "I even see a treasure chest!"

"Well, you heard the lady, Captain," Skull said as he patted the leg of his persona.

Captain Kidd grinned and raced down to the platform, where the thieves jumped off. Skull and Captain Kidd high-fived, then Captain Kidd faded away, his job now complete. "That was easy," Skull said.

"Why didn't we think of that at Kamoshida's palace?" Panther asked as the group walked down the stairs and toward the glowing treasure chest. "We could have just rode Captain Kidd to the top."

"Yeah, but it—" Skull paused and stumbled back, his vision swimming. "That was weird."

"It's harder to summon Personas outside of battles when the adrenaline is not flowing. Makes the headache worse," Joker said. "While I'm glad we avoided the chaos down there, we should be a little more careful with using them."

"Agreed," Skull said.

After Joker popped open the chest and retrieved some cash, the group crept down the hall, all of them on edge for any lasers until they opened the door. The moment the door opened the group found themselves in a room. Down the hallway into a large chamber, they saw Madarame.

He stood in front of an infrared laser-made display case that guarded his unsolidified treasure. "Madarame!" Fox exclaimed, but Joker and Skull immediately held Fox back from charging.

"Calm down," Joker ordered. "Not like this. Too many guards and his treasure is undefined. We need to observe."

Fox nodded and the group carefully trudged until they reached the edge of the room they were in. "I did not expect the treasure to look so hazy," Fox stated.

"It's like that for now," Panther said. "once we send the calling card, it'll materialize into a solid treasure that we can steal. At least, I think that's how it works."

"Any idea on what form it'll take?" Skull asked.

"Who knows," Lioness murmured. "I bet it's a painting at least."

"Whatever it may be, it's the source of what distorted Madarame's reality like this," Fox said. "We must take it."

"And we will," Joker said. "For now, we have somewhat of a secured route."

"Somewhat?" Lioness asked. "What do you mean, Joker?"

"Well….my gut is telling me that this won't be like Kamoshida's where we just smashed and grabbed," Joker explained. "I mean, the laser cage and the guards around it are a telltale sign that forcing our way is not going to be the play."

"What should we do then?" Panther asked.

"We keep looking," Joker answered. "There are two hallways, one on each side of the room we're in. Let's check them out."

The group nodded and after checking out the hallway to their right that led to the shuttered hallway, the group returned to the main room and went down the hall to their left. After securing the Main Hall Safe Room, the thieves walked across the hall into another security room.

"Dope, I didn't expect to see another one so soon. Especially unguarded," Skull said.

"Hey! We can see the treasure room from here," Lioness noted as she eyed the room through the glass window.

"There's also a console there," Panther added as she stared at it. "Neat-o, no password either, unlike the last few. Looks like there are a few options on it."

Joker, Fox, and Skull walked up behind the girls, with Joker leaning close to observe the settings. "Seems we can raise the shutters, turn off the infrared lasers, and switch off the lights," Joker said. "Call it a gut feeling—"

"Here we go," Skull whispered to Panther, who grinned and nudged him with her elbow.

"—But I bet if we turn off the lights, they will turn off… But only for a few seconds," Joker said. "Because a place like this must have backup generators. I would want to test it, but we might alert some of the guards, and I don't want that."

"We are pretty low on supplies and pretty banged up," Lioness said.

"Yeah, so let's avoid that," Panther said.

"What about the lasers?" Fox suggested.

"Yeah, try the lasers," Joker told Panther.

Panther nodded and selected the lasers, but nothing happened.

"Error: Only Madarame-Sama can access this terminal due to maximum security protocol!" a female mechanical voice announced.

"Well, that's a kick to the dick," Skull sighed.

"While crude, I agree," Fox said. "It seems disabling the lasers is not within the realm of possibility for us."

"Try the shutters," Joker said.

Panther nodded and selected the shutters. Moments later, a green checkmark appeared by the option. "They're all up," Panther announced.

"Good, now let's go," Joker commanded.

[Scene Change: The Crazy Diamond (Evening)
[Theme of Tension: Troubled from Persona 3]

The entrance door opened to reveal the exhausted forms of Ren, Shiho, Ann, Yusuke, and Ryuji.

They had managed to hatch out a plan in getting the treasure, but now, they needed to figure out how to deliver the Calling Card. But as the group entered, they noticed a few things.

Hifumi looked devastated.

Makoto looked discouraged.

Yūki was without Morgana.

And Haru was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay, do we want to know what happened?" Ryuji asked.

"Yeah, where is Haru?" Ann asked.

"Makoto, Hifumi, are you two alright?" Shiho asked.

"And where is Morgana?" Ren asked.

"They're both gone," Yūki answered when Hifumi and Makoto refused to answer. "Morgana told me to let you both know that he's going undercover and he won't be back for a while….As for Haru….Well…."

"Well, what?" Ryuji asked.

"Haru needed to be alone for a while," Hifumi whispered. "Why? Because my mother decided to sell me to the highest bidder."

First Mate Violet: And that shoe has been dropped. I know I basically cut out the twisting puzzle but we all know that stage and I got the okay to create that little shortcut. My twin is aware that I just set a precedent, especially for that stupid palace, but….That almost makes the potential of other palaces go way up.

So now, Morgana will be going undercover as a normal cat, most likely to investigate the Hasegawa family and Hifumi has been told about her mother's deal with a certain jailer from Strikers. And Haru is not taking that well. Things are about to get bumpy.