(Author's Note)

Hey guys, been a bit.

I wanted to have this chapter out earlier, but it ended up taking more time than I first expected.

Silver lining, it's easily the longest chapter I've written for this story yet, so you guys have that to look forward to.

As a quick aside, after the program was delayed by two years due to Covid, college has finally started up for me again. That's not to say that I'll take longer to get chapters out, it might depending on how busy things may get, but honestly I think it gives me more opportunities to just put words down. So, it'll both help output, and also hamper said output.

...Right, where was I?

I finally gave Three Hopes a try, I mean, it was the demo, but I did.

And I already both regret and am thankful that I did. Regret, because now I'm trying to figure out how I'd fit some of these things into the story when I said I didn't really want to. I'm thankful on the other hand, because it does actually help me figure out the next steps for Ren's story going forward. Not saying what specific, you're more than welcome to figuring all that out yourself.

Okay, with all that out of the way, onto reviews!

To BrownBear18: Ren's phone technically has infinite charge, a boon from the velvet room since it'd be pretty hard for their guest to continue his journey if he couldn't access it.

To AK632612: I'd tell you now, but the answer to that question is in this chapter so...

To AinzNamikazeD: I can understand the concerns you have. Three houses has a... very large cast of characters, and I can say for sure that I won't be able to really touch upon all of them. I have a rough idea of who I know I'm gonna make into thieves, but overall the cast will be a bit more condensed. That's not to say I'm content with letting other characters end up as side characters with no importance, just that there's a lot to work with and I can only do so much with it all before it gets screwy. I also don't plan on having metaverse shenanigans overtake normal plot points, or at least not until much later in the story, so hopefully that alleviates any concerns you might have for now.

To JeaSonDash: Nope, or at least not yet? Who knows.

To Redpika: I do want to note that I don't plan on having the P4 shadow acceptance into P5 awakening thing be a continued theme with the Fódlan thieves... But I can't deny it'll come up at least once more. I do want to have at least 1 or two people from each house, yes. Still debating on if I'm touching the Ashen Wolves, haven't actually had a chance to play through the dlc yet.

Not a lot of reviews I touched on today, mainly because I felt I answered those questions in the answers above. To everyone who left a review, thank you! If you have the time to, please leave a review on this chapter as well. On that note, how about we do something interesting?

If you're up to it, in your review, write up a hypothetical calling card for one of the characters in three houses. Curious about who all of you would target first I guess.

Right, enough of that for now. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

(Play Aria of the Soul)

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor said, smiling widely at Claude.

"...Sensei, I was almost ready to accept the whole Metaverse thing, but what did you spike my drink with?" Claude asked, glancing back to look at Ren. The teen's eyebrow raised as he caught sight of the professor. "Uh, when did you change out of your… thieves garb?"

"When we boarded. Look down." Ren replied, motioning to the officer's academy uniform Claude was wearing. "And I didn't spike anything. This is the Velvet Room."

"This place exists between dream and reality. Mind and matter." Lavenza began, getting Claude's attention. "The state of this room reflects the state of our guest's heart. Due to the unusual circumstances, we have allowed our guest to bring aboard visitors like you."

"Guest?" Claude blinked, glancing back at Ren. "So, I take it that's you then?"

"That's right." Ren nodded.

"Ren is what's called a wild card. It means he's able to house and summon multiple Personas." Morgana said, jumping up onto one of the seats. "This place helps him cultivate that power by fusing together personas to create new and more powerful ones."

"Uh… Right." Claude said, looking at Morgana with light unease. "...So, did your cat always talk like this, or?"

"Technically, yes. But unless you hear me speak in the Metaverse I just sound like a cat. Once you do hear me speak, it's like a switch is flicked in your cognition and you can hear me speak normally." Morgana replied, scratching his neck with his hind paw.

"And as much as I'd like to do some fusions, I only have two right now and I'm not fusing Arsene." Ren said with a shrug. "It was weird the first time and I'm not about doing so again."

"Weird?" Claude asked, glancing at the professor.

"Persona fusion lets us create a new Persona through the merging of two or more Personas." Lavenza explained. "We've had multiple means by which we've done as such, but the current equipment and my affinity for a specific method of fusing means we execute the personas."

"Execute? You mean he kills off part of his personality every time he does this?" Claude snapped his head to look at Ren in bewilderment.

"Kind of? It's a bit more complicated and with Personas I find in the metaverse or fuse here, I don't really feel much when they're fused." Ren answered as he placed his hand on his chin. "That said, it was entirely different with Arsene. Not to say I wouldn't do it again if necessary, but…"

"Personas are kind of like a mask. They're the side of you that comes out when you interact with the world." Morgana picked up. "So when you're fusing a persona created from the very foundation of your own being…"

"It's not pleasant. It helped that I was able to get him back almost immediately after though." Ren said, glancing over to Lavenza. "Speaking of, I need to register my personas in the compendium."

"Compendium…?" Claude asked in what may as well of been a whine.

"Claude, there is so much that needs to be explained we ended up making a handbook. Granted, it's a small one, but we will give you it once we're done here." Morgana said with a shrug.

"Your Personas have been recorded, Trickster." Lavenza said, the compendium flashing blue moments before.

"Good, now onto the main point of today's visit." Ren said, glancing over at Igor.

"What, it wasn't to introduce me to your friends?" Claude asked with a smirk.

"That was a fun side effect of the visit at most." Ren shot back with a shrug, getting a scoff from the house leader in return. "I need to ask how we get back to reality."

"Yeah… that might be problematic." Morgana said with a sigh.

"Why's that?" Claude raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the two thieves.

"Normally we just need to return to where we entered the metaverse, that usually brings us back into reality." Ren said, glancing over at Claude. "We TRIED to do the same with you back at Leblanc Nouveau, but unfortunately you didn't return to reality. So if that didn't work, I need to make certain I haven't gotten us stuck here."

"...Sensei, if you got me trapped in a world like this, even if it was by accident, I'll never forgive you." Claude stated.

"You will not need to worry about being trapped. While there is no longer a specific exit point in the metaverse, your metaverse navigator has simply added that as another facet of its capabilities." Igor said. "I felt it would be simplest if I had the app automatically do so the first time you left the metaverse, if only to save time for later. Now though, all you need to do is begin navigation on the app, and you will return to reality in the corresponding place you were in the metaverse."

"Well, that's… simple?" Claude said, confusion clear on his face. "Just uh… one question? What's an app?"

"Don't… don't worry about it, Claude." Ren said with a sigh. The teen shook his head and looked up at the two residents of the Velvet Room. "So, I don't suppose you could drop us off at Leblanc then? That was one of the room's new features, right?"

"That it is. Everyone, please take a seat, we'll be arriving at Leblanc Nouveau shortly." Lavenza said with a smile.

"I think I should just roll with things at this point." Claude mused with a shrug as he sat down on one of the couches.

"Good call." Ren said with a nod as he joined the student.

(Stop Music)

[You Have Returned To The Real World. Welcome Back.]

"I don't think I've ever been so tired…" Claude said with a yawn as he collapsed into one of the booths.

"Yeah, your first Awakening tends to have that effect on you. Once you rest up, you won't be feeling that kind of fatigue unless you really expend some energy in the metaverse." Morgana said, jumping onto the table as he sat in front of Claude.

"Right, I can understand you now…" Claude said with a nod. "How long were we in there for?"

"It's probably the afternoon now. We were heading in a bit before noon." Ren noted with a shrug before he pulled out a notebook from his pocket. "Now, you'll want to look over this soon."

Claude took the notebook from the professor and opened the first page, staring blankly at the lines of text before him. "Hey, Sensei… You do know I don't understand whatever language this is, yeah?"

"Huh." Ren blinked. "I thought that might be the case, but I also wanted to check if Japanese functioned off of Morgana rules."

"I mean, this is written, not spoken." Claude replied.

"Do you understand it when its spoken though?" Ren asked, switching to Japanese on a dime.

"Nope, just like the book. Nothing." Claude said with a shrug as he handed the notebook back to Ren.

"Well, at least we know that now." Ren said with a sigh. "Just means I'm gonna need to translate this all."

"So, I know I'm going back to my dorm to… Well, sleep probably, I'm dead tired. What are you two going to do?" Claude asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Prepare, pretty much." Ren said with a shrug. "We sort of know what we're getting ourselves into, now that her shadow's attacked us and all, so I feel confident that we can probably take her once we prepare properly."

"So when are we going back then?" Claude glanced over at Morgana. "Judging by things, I assume soon?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately, Ren is a Professor here at the academy, so unlike before he has a lot more that's going to take up his time. We wanted to get this all sorted out before classes start up properly on Monday." Morgana replied.

"I also have to translate this so you're caught up to speed." Ren continued, holding the notebook up. "Once that's all done, and you read this over, all we have left to do is make and send the calling card."

"Calling card, huh?" Claude nodded. "I figure I'll get the specifics from that book there later, so I'm just going to go sleep off this exhaustion for now."

"We'll see you tomorrow then." Ren said with a nod as Claude stood up from his seat and made for the door.

Claude paused, fingers lightly brushing against the doorknob as he stared into the eyes of his reflection, a determined look on his face. "We'll definitely help her." He uttered quietly, before opening the door and walking out, leaving the two veteran thieves alone.

"...okay, let's go over what we know from our encounter first." Morgana began, looking over at Ren as the teen took a seat where Claude was sitting moments earlier. "Lysithea's shadow is heavily magic focused, that seems like an accurate statement, right?"

"Yeah, and considering that we found her in a library likely means she spends a fair amount of her time there." Ren said with a nod, crossing his arms. "We also know that Claude himself enrages her. If this was a palace, the security level would have risen heavily at that."

"Yeah, and we don't know for certain that his thieves garb will do anything to hide his identity." Morgana noted with a light grimace. "So we should assume the worst in this case and prepare for an angrier shadow."

"Yay…" Ren deadpanned with a chuckle. "Aside from that, I think it's best we spend some time around that floor recruiting shadows. If not for the type coverage, then just so I have more personas to use for fusing."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Morgana nodded.

The two fell into a silence as their minds reached back to their encounter with the shadow.

"Hey, do we know for sure a change of heart will work?" Ren asked, glancing up at Morgana.

"Hm? I think so. Why? You don't?" Morgana replied with a tilt of his head.

"I… It's something that her shadow said just before she attacked." Ren said with a light frown. "Her Crests are killing her."

"Yeah, that's right…" Morgana nodded, a frown forming on his face. "What was it she said, 30 years was how long people thought she'd live for?"

"If not sooner." Ren nodded, leaning forward as his hands clenched. "We can change her heart, steal her desires, but would that even do anything for the better? She became distorted as a result of those Crests, or at least the effect they were having on her body led to that. What if she just ends up reverting?"

"Hey, Joker." Ren glanced up at Morgana. "It'll be fine. We'll figure something out, we always do. Besides, even if she does regress, we'll be here to actually catch it before it happens."

"...Right, we are." Ren nodded, smiling lightly. "In that case, we should get started on the big things. We're mostly prepared already, but I'd like to have some other supplies going in. Sooner or later our medical supplies are gonna run out, and early on when we need to conserve all of the SP we can, that'll be to our detriment."

"There's also making sure our equipment is up to stuff." Ren said with a nod. "You're fine, I think, but Claude and I definitely need something new."

"Think Anna can help with those?" Morgana asked.

"Maybe. At best, we should look into our medicine problem after we change Lysithea's heart. Getting everyone better equipped is a bit more important." Ren nodded to himself. "Then there's translating the Thieves handbook, preparing and writing the calling card… just a whole bunch of stuff…"

"Well… we better get started on all that then, right?"

"Claude." Ren said, nodding the house leader's way briefly as he walked by him.

"Sensei…?" Claude gave a similarly confused nod as Ren walked past. The professor's arm moved simply, quickly pulling out and slipping the translated version of the Thieves Handbook into the student's pocket.

Ren smiled, walking up to the cafeteria staff as he got his breakfast for the day. The teen moved over to an empty table by the corner and sat down, giving a quick thanks before he began to dig into the food on his plate.

"Talk about a smooth pass." Morgana said with a nod as his head popped out of Ren's bag. "I'm impressed. You're getting pretty good at that."

"Just a question of when he'll figure out I slipped it to him. It DOES have the time we're meeting to discuss the calling card in it." Ren said between bites of the omelet on his plate. "It's not great that we can't do much for Claude regarding his equipment, but it's not exactly conspicuous going around asking for high quality crossbows and all that…"

"Doesn't help Anna's currently busy with other orders right now either…" Morgana said with a sigh.

"Just means I need to make sure I'll be fully prepared with Personas…" Ren replied with a shrug.

"Ooh, are we getting more roommates?" Ren blinked, leaning back as Sprite's voice echoed in his head. "You would not believe how empty this place is! We got all this stuff to do and yet no one to do it with."

'Sprite? How are you…?'

"Talking? Oh, that's nothing! I mean, with magic being so prevalent in reality and the world's cognition being how it is, talking to you is easy!." Sprite responded mentally.

'It apparently took a lot of effort for Arsene to say anything though, so why not you?' Ren asked.

"Duh, he's tuned to YOUR cognition, not this world's. That's why he has to expend so much energy to bridge that gap whenever he speaks." Sprite replied with a shrug.

'Ignoring the fact I could somehow feel you shrug in my head, what do you mean my head has a lot to do in it?'

"I mean it's got a LOT! There's darts, a few tables for Tycoon, Arsene's managing a strange segmented part of that cafe you run, and there's even a pool table!"

'...Right, I'll just… assume as such.' Ren replied with a sigh.

"Why assume?" Sprite asked as the clack of pool balls rang out through Ren's head.

'Please don't do that while we're talking next time?'

"Hey, you asked."

"Joker? You good there?" Morgana asked, looking over at the teen.

"Hm? Yeah, Sprite's just being… overly vocal right now." Ren said with a wave.

"Uh… Right." Morgana slowly nodded.

"Anyways, what's really important is what we're going to do today." Ren said with a nod. "We've done most of what we can really plan for… so if we have time to kill before we meet up with Claude, then maybe we can see if there's anyone to hang out with?"

"Hm…" Morgana paused, scanning the room for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and motioned to a spot behind Ren with his head. "Hey, what about the green haired guy from your class? The healer?"

"Linhardt?" Ren blinked, glancing over his shoulder at the teen as he groggily ate his breakfast. "...That might not be a bad idea, he might be able to help us improve our healing spells…"

"Exactly, though do you have any right now?" Morgana asked.

"...Sprite, you wouldn't happen to know any healing magic, would you?"

"Eh, only the basic stuff."

"Then yes, I do." Ren replied, nodding at Morgana.

"We should see if we can catch him after breakfast then." Morgana said.

Ren smiled at his partner, before glancing over at Linhardt as the student stood up and walked out of the cafeteria. "And that's our cue to finish up here."

"Come on… Mythology…" Ren muttered to himself as he skimmed the title of another book on the shelf in front of him. "It shouldn't be this hard to find something like this, it's a library for the officers academy, a place that trains people to fight with MAGIC of all things. It has to have… something on the subject that isn't that outrealms book I found earlier…"

"Hey, Linhardt's right there. Do we really have time to look into this?" Morgana asked quietly as he poked his head out of Ren's bag.

"If I can actually find what I'm looking for we would." Ren said with a huff, eye twitching behind his false glasses as he walked over to the shelf next to it. "It's not like they don't have anything, I've found like, three books so far, but all of it is either very specific and focused on one legend, or very vague in what it's trying to get across…"

"Well, we could ask Linhardt about it?" Morgana said with a shrug. "Plus, it'd actually make a decent conversation starter that isn't, you know, we've been stalking you all morning."

"We haven't been though?" Ren replied quietly.

"Just saying." Morgana shrugged, slipping out the bag as he jumped to the floor. "Worse case, he can't help you find this book and you just get on with hanging out with him."

"Fair enough…" Ren nodded, stepping away from the bookshelf and Morgana as he turned and made for a table sitting near one of the corners of the library.

Linhardt certainly was making use of the space in front of him, with books strewn about the surface opened to various pages as he copied notes down onto the notebook in front of him. The green haired teen scratched out a line through one of the notes, seemingly cross referencing it with a different anecdote from one of the other books and finding it undesirable.

Ren raised an eyebrow, glancing down at one of the open pages. "The Crest of Cethleann?"

"Hm? Ah, Sensei." Linhardt glanced up from his work and blinked tiredly at his teacher. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Well, I wanted to ask if you knew if they had an… omnibus or encyclopedia on Fódlan's mythology, but now I'm curious about this." Ren replied, motioning to the books on the table. "You mentioned you were studying Crests?"

"Yes, that's right." Linhardt nodded, not sparing much of a glance as Ren sat down on the chair next to him. "I suppose it would be easiest to simply say that I am looking into the power a Crests bestows on someone, and if there is a way to better optimize that."

"Ah, that makes some sense." Ren nodded. "If I recall correctly, your Crest is… Cethleann?"

"Only a minor Crest, but that's correct." Linhardt replied with a nod. "You cannot exactly call on the power of your Crest, it just activates whenever certain criteria are met. And having a minor Crest does lower the… frequency of its activation."

"Right, I think I understand." Ren said, crossing his arms.

"Unfortunately, all of my studying has led me to a dead end." Linhardt said with a yawn. "So, here I am."

Ren glanced down at the contents of Linhardt's notes for a moment. "...Well, if you're stuck, why don't I try and help you out?" Ren replied, sitting up.

"I… appreciate the thought, but I'm not certain of how you could." Linhardt said after a moment.

"Well, how about we go over how you use your healing magic? What all the steps are, what you picture when you're using it and things like that." Ren replied, rolling his right wrist. "And hey, I might be able to give you a separate perspective with my healing magic while we're at it."

"Wait, your healing magic?" Linhardt asked.

"Yeah. Watch." Ren said, letting his dagger slide out from his sleeve as he quickly pricked his finger. His gaze flicked over to Linhardt and the subtle wince that followed the drawing of blood. "Sorry, figured it'd be best to show."

"It's fine. I've had practice with worse." Linhardt replied.

The thief nodded and closed his eyes, allowing Sprite's energy to run to his finger tips. "Dia." Ren said, flicking his right hand with a flourish overtop of his injured finger.

Green energy pooled and glowed in a small orb, before it broke apart in a shower of light that seeped into the injured skin, quickly closing the wound off and healing the skin. When Ren opened his eyes, there wasn't a single sign he had even been cut.

"It was a bit overkill, but you get the gist of it." Ren said, shaking his left hand as he looked up at Linhardt. The thief paused, raising an eyebrow at the intense look on his student's face.

"Fascinating…" Linhardt muttered. "I expected it to be different from my own, but to this extent…?"

"What do you mean?" Ren asked.

Linhardt looked up at his teacher with a thoughtful look on his face. "It was the way the magic healed you. With usual healing magic, it would be more accurate to say that all it really does is speed up and increase the capabilities of your body's natural healing ability. It's why sometimes even with magic like this, people can develop scars."

"But your… Dia, was it? It was almost like the inverse." Linhardt continued, before shaking his head. "Instead of speeding up the body's normal healing, it was almost like you reverted the affected area to a point where the wound never happened."

"Oh." Ren blinked wordlessly at Linhardt. "I… feel like that's an important difference."

"Sensei, even if it was weak, you casted a spell that effectively altered physics to heal yourself." Linhardt said with a deadpan at Ren. "You have no idea what some people would do for that kind of power."

"...Right, so keep that one to myself then." Ren said with a nod.

"I believe it would be in your best interest to do so, yes." Linhardt sighed. "At least it's a simple thing like this you're hiding. I don't know how you'd find time to even sleep if something bigger got revealed to the masses."

Ren felt a bead of sweat slide down the side of his forehead. 'Note to self, don't mention your unknown Crest to Linhardt, ever.'

"So, what were you feeling?" Linhardt asked.

"Hm?"

"When you were casting. You asked me what I did when I casted, and you mentioned something about an image?" Linhardt asked.

"Ah. Well, as I believe I've explained to the class already, my magic is inherently different. We've gone over the actual properties of how already, but I normally use a mental focus when casting." Ren explained, crossing his arms. He glanced down at the books on the table before he closed his eyes. "With any support based Magic, I tend to imagine… well, the worst case scenario. Something I can never allow to happen."

"I'm sorry… The mission's… a failure…"

Ren shook his head, pushing the sudden resurfacing of those events back down as he forced a light smile onto his face. "I use that feeling, that want. I use it as a focus, I guess is what I'm trying to say."

"Sensei…" Linhardt stared at Ren.

"If I recall, your magic uses your faith in something as a focus?" Ren asked, glancing at Linhardt, getting a nod from the teen. "Then when you get a chance, try doing this. Think of your friends. Your family. The people you care about."

"Then, imagine the worst." Ren said in almost a whisper, the sound effortlessly ringing out near the table. "Imagine them hurt, badly injured, maybe… maybe you were too late or couldn't do anything."

"Take those feelings, every bit of worry, hope, frustration and despair… Those will be the base, and when you focus on that faith you have, push all those emotions into it." Ren finished, before letting out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his head. "Or at least that's what I think might work. My magic right now is pretty specialized so I don't know the exact mechanics of yours…"

"...No, I think either way this will help. Thank you." Linhardt said with a nod. "I think I have some things to look into now."

"Well, glad I could help then?" Ren replied.

"I would hope so." Linhardt chuckled.

Ren smiled a bit easier at that, and the bond between the two grew stronger.

{RANK UP!}

[Your Fortune Arcana has increased to Rank 2!]

[You will now earn a Stat increase in a randomly chosen stat when from Arcana Boost when fusing Personas of the Fortune Arcana!]

[You feel your Willpower strengthen slightly…]

"Ah, if you're looking for Mythology, you'll want to look over there." Linhardt said as he motioned to a cart of various books sitting near a few empty bookshelves at the back. "From what I heard from Tomas, they're reorganizing the library so a few sections are a bit disorganized right now. I believe I saw something along the lines you were looking for there."

"Tomas?" Ren asked.

"He's been the librarian for Garreg Mach Monastery for over 40 years. I think he's out right now though…" Linhardt replied with a shrug as he looked down at the books in front of him.

"I see. I should introduce myself to him when I can then." Ren said as he stood up. "Thanks for the help today, Linhardt."

"It was no problem, Sensei. Besides, I believe out of the two of us I came out of it with more to show." Linhardt waved his teacher off as he flipped the page of his notebook.

"Fair enough." Ren said with a smile as he walked over towards the cart of books. 'Alright Third Eye, don't fail me now…'

The thief's vision turned dark, shades of blue overtaking the usual hues of his vision as he scanned the books for any gold outliers. Ren crouched down and reached into the second bin on the cart, rummaging around before he pulled out a decently sized book out.

Ren stood up, deactivating his third eye in the process as he looked upon the cover. "Well, it's not a grand collection… but I still think something titled 'Folklore of Central Fódlan' is something to look into."

"Here." Ren said, placing a cup of Coffee down in front of Claude. "Did you read through the handbook, or just the note that said we'd be meeting here at this time?"

"It would be a bad idea to go into something like this without preparing as best I could. Knowledge is power after all." Claude said with a nod as he pulled the handbook out of his pocket. "Robin agreed with that notion."

"Your Persona's been talking to you?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not much. He speaks up here or there, but it's mainly just my thoughts running around up here." Claude replied as he tapped his temple with his right index finger. "So, we're gonna do a pop quiz or something before we head back in?"

"Something like that, but you won't be scored." Ren said with a shrug as Morgana hopped up onto the table. "First, we're going to go over the most important aspect of what we do here in reality, preparing the target for a change of heart."

"You brought up a calling card in the handbook, but didn't go into much detail about it." Claude nodded. "I'm… vaguely familiar with the concept, but not the specifics."

"Mainly because we know we were going to go over it in detail now anyways." Morgana picked up. "First, we should establish just HOW a change of heart works."

"The metaverse, as you're aware, is essentially the collective unconscious of the world made manifest. It's a world that exists opposite ours, that we can access to incite a change of heart. How we do that is by stealing the root of someone's desire." Morgana explained. "However, we can't normally steal something as abstract as that. So, we have to turn it into something that CAN be stolen. Are you following so far?"

"So far." Claude nodded as he picked up the cup of Coffee in front of him and took a sip.

"Joker?" Morgana began, passing the metaphorical baton to the Professor.

"When someone receives a calling card, we're announcing to them that we're going to steal their distorted desires. This in turn materializes the root of a person's desire into a treasure that can be stolen." Ren continued. "We're essentially forcing a shadow to recognize an abstract concept like this as a treasure that can be stolen. That said, we normally shoot the threat level up to the max when we announce this, so we try to only go when we're ready."

"Okay, I understand all of that, but what do you mean by treasure?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It depends. In the metaverse it could be anything, from a crown, to bars of gold… Depending on the distortion itself, it could be something else as well. Oracle, one of our teammates from back home, asked us to change her heart before she joined us. Due to the… sensitive nature of her distortion, the treasure we had to steal was herself." Ren said, leaning into the seat of the booth. "In short, until we're there, we won't know what to expect. That said, it shouldn't be something major like that. Lysithea hasn't distorted enough to form a palace so her desire made manifest likely won't be anything major like that."

"Okay, and Palaces?" Claude sighed. "You had a page for it but it was empty."

"Ren still needs to translate that page, but since we're only dealing with Mementos right now, we thought we'd be fine explaining that concept if we ran into one later." Morgana said. "So, now that we went over that, let's talk about the contents of a calling card."

"Well, that part sounds self explanatory." Claude remarked with a shrug as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Well, it both is and isn't." Ren said with a crooked grin. "Normally we don't do big events with Mementos targets, since the general public's knowledge of us is usually enough for us to steal from targets in mementos, but since the phantom thieves have no notoriety in Fódlan, we have to go the extra mile with Lysithea."

"In short, that does mean the card will be personal. We'll be telling her clearly what her distortion is, that her view of the world is wrong, and that we will steal those desires." Morgana said. "Which does lead us into the…secondary issue."

"That being?" Claude asked as he placed his cup on the table.

"Delivering this to her." Ren said, reaching into his bag as he pulled out the item in question.

Claude blinked at the red card displayed in front of him. The entire thing was coated in red, with black rings spreading out over the card like ripples on water. A red logo of a mask with a tophat stared back at him, the left eye bursting out in flames atop the words "Take Your Heart".

Ren glanced down at the card in his hand, before he cleared his throat and read what was on the other side.

"That's what we have." Ren said, placing the card down on the center of the table.

"Well, you certainly go for the throat when writing these." Claude noted.

"Funnily enough, usually it's someone else writing these out instead of me." Ren said with a shrug. "Good to know I still got the style down."

"Right, all that's left for us to do is to deliver this card, then head into Mementos." Morgana said.

"Well, if all that's left is that…" Claude began, picking up the card.

"Hold it." Ren said, raising a hand up towards Claude. "Please don't tell me you planned on just dropping that off to her."

"What do you take me for?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow. "If I just hand it to her she'll likely think it's just a prank from me. Not like that'll do any good for us."

"So why take the card?" Morgana asked.

"I do happen to know how to be sneaky, you know." Claude waved the two off. "Getting this into Lysithea's dorm without being noticed should be a piece of cake."

"Well, it's not like I have the same kind of anonymity as I used to have…" Morgana said with a sigh.

"To be fair, all of us are famous to some extent here." Ren shrugged, before sighing. "Plus, if someone saw a cat spreading calling cards around, they'd likely look to you and I since… Well, we've established you as being a very 'smart' cat."

"So in the end, I'm probably the best bet." Claude said, slipping the card away onto his person.

"That said, let me come with you. We need to confirm she sees it or else we'll be going into Mementos for nothing." Morgana said, looking over at Claude.

"Sounds good. Though you might want to follow at a distance." Claude replied as he stood up.

"I'll get things ready over on my end." Ren said, stepping out of the booth as Morgana walked over to Claude. "Don't get caught."

"We won't. He's got a professional watching his back, after all." Morgana said with a smirk.

"It feels good to see how much faith you have in me…" Claude deadpanned before he locked eyes with Ren. "We'll see you in a little bit. Whenever Morgana can confirm she saw the card."

Ren nodded, stepping back towards the counter as his teammates left the café. The bell rang out as the door closed, leaving the leader to his personal devices.

"...I need to visit the Velvet Room."

"...Okay, you're clear." Morgana said, keeping lookout as Claude opened the door to Lysithea's dorm.

"Easy." The house leader smirked, slipping inside. "Now to just leave this here…"

Claude pulled out the red calling card from his pocket and laid it atop the desk on the other side of the room, stepping back to admire his handiwork. "There. Now all that's left is to wait for her to find it."

"Hey, this way." Morgana called out, leaving the room. Claude followed behind, making sure to slip out of the form unnoticed, locking it behind him as he walked with his senior towards the side of the monastery greenhouse.

"You're pretty used to this, huh?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. We try to make a bit more of a show of things usually, but considering the nature of the current target, keeping it quiet is for the best." Morgana nodded.

Claude nodded, leaning back against the wall with a sigh. "...So, I've been meaning to ask, but how did Sensei end up meeting a talking cat anyways?"

Morgana's ear twitched at the Cat comment, but the thief ignored it and glanced out at the fishing pond. "It was back with our first target. I had gotten myself locked inside a jail cell by the palace ruler, the shadow of a despicable man by the name of Kamoshida."

"It just so happened that Joker and Skull both ended up stumbling into the palace by accident." Morgana continued, chuckling at the blank face Claude was giving him. "Accidentally dragging people into Mementos is usually how we end up recruiting new members, so the fact their first introduction was as accidental as yours feels poetic in a sense."

"Poetic, sure."Claude shook his head with a light smile.

"Anyways, they ended up escaping from Kamoshida when Ren awakened Arsene. After that, they ran into me. I helped them escape the palace in exchange for them letting me out of the cell." Morgana said, shaking his head. "Guess my surprise when they showed up the next day in the palace."

"So, you two hit it off and decided to become phantom thieves with… Skull, was it?" Claude asked.

"Yeah, though it was originally only to take down Kamoshida, we ended up sticking together after the fact." Morgana smiled. "But enough about me, let's get back to keeping a lookout."

"Sounds like a plan."

(Play - Aria of the Soul)

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor began, nodding at Ren as the teen walked into the train car. "You look conflicted, Trickster."

"Not sure if I'd use 'conflicted', merely… concerned." Ren clarified, taking a seat at the side of the cart. "We're going into new territory here, after all."

"You're referring to Lysithea, correct?" Lavenza asked.

"Hm. She's distorted, but I'm concerned that our efforts might not truly bear fruit. The root of her desire is simple, but the very reason for that desire is what I'm concerned about." Ren replied, opening his gloved hand with a wave. "She's dying. Who's to say stealing her desire won't lead her to simply taking her life? Like Morgana warned us about when we first were debating on whether to go through with stealing Kamoshida's heart. Desires are important, the desire to live is one of them. If we take that desire, and leave behind the real source…"

"You've come for guidance." Igor noted, his smile never falling.

"Yes, though I don't know if you would have any real answers to give me." Ren said with a sigh.

"Unfortunately, we are unable to help you resolve this problem. Crests, while indeed a topic my master is knowledgeable of, are not something we can help you with." Lavenza said, a light frown on her face. "We can only provide our services as they pertain to your Personas. Aside from guidance, we are only allowed to assist you from here."

"So, you don't have a solution then?" The words were more of a statement than a question, but Ren still asked anyway.

"Correct. But our lack of one does not mean that you are without a solution." Igor said.

"...But, I am. That's why I came here." Ren said after a moment, glancing over at Lavenza. "Please tell me this isn't another riddle, I really don't want to also have that to deal with."

"Regretfully, that is an answer you need to come to yourself." Lavenza said, bowing her head slightly.

"So yes, it is." Ren deadpanned, getting a light giggle from his attendant. "At the very least, I know there's something now."

Ren stood up, turning towards Lavenza. "Drop me off at Leblanc Nouveau. I should probably leave a note before going hunting for new Personas…"

"Understood. Next stop, Café Leblanc Nouveau." Lavenza said with a bow.

"Remember Trickster, you have defied worse fates before, I have much faith you will do so again." Igor said amidst the rising volume of the train they were on.

(Stop Music)

"Mona, heading out to prepare. Going to recruit some personas now while you guys handle the stakeout. If I'm not back by the time she's seen the card, meet me in Mementos." Ren muttered as he transcribed his words on the small piece of parchment. "There."

The teen nodded as he took a step back, fishing his phone out of his pocket. "Okay, Mementos." He said, opening the app up. "...I should probably confirm no ones lurking outside first before doing anything like this again…"

Ren turned and walked towards the front door of his café, moving to put his phone back in his pocket as he reached for the doorknob.

It was unfortunate then that the door was already primed to open, especially when Ren's frame slammed into someone else's, sending them sprawling backwards.

Ren groaned, rubbing his chest where the student had slammed into him. He glanced up, before staring at Lysithea as she nursed her head. "Ow…" The teen muttered to herself, eyes winced.

"Lysithea?" Ren asked, before glancing down at his phone, which had landed on the ground next to him. His arm swiftly scrambled to slip it away on his person unnoticed.

Unfortunately, the strange object wasn't missed by Lysithea as her eyes opened just in time to see the strange glowing object slip away from sight.

"Are you alright?" Ren asked, moving to help the girl up.

"I- Yes, I'm fine." Lysithea nodded, grabbing Ren's arm as he helped her to a stand.

"Sorry about that, wasn't expecting someone to come in at that moment. Especially since the café's closed right now…" Ren said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It is? But I saw Claude leave here a few minutes ago?" Lysithea noted, eyebrow raised.

'Of course she did.' Ren mentally sighed.

"I had a question or two for him and figured a drink wouldn't hurt the deal. And since I'm running a café when I'm not teaching, here felt like a good spot." Ren said with a shrug. 'Not an inaccurate statement. Nice going, Joker.'

"Ah, I see. So, I assume that means your busy then?" Lysithea asked.

"Unfortunately. I'll be free tomorrow if you need me though." Ren said, placing his hands in his pockets.

"I'll keep that in mind then." Lysithea said, eyeing Ren as the teen walked past her, opening the door.

"Well, I should get going then." Ren said, taking a step outside. "See you tomorrow!"

Ren jogged off, leaving Lysithea alone in the room. "...Something's up." She said after a second, eyes narrowed. "That glowing object he had for one…"

Lysithea nodded to herself, before she opened the door of the café as she tailed the thief.

"...Love stakeouts…" Morgana said with an exhausted sigh.

"Preaching to the choir." Claude replied in a deadpan, eyes glued to Lysithea's dorm.

"Ah, Claude!" Claude blinked, breaking eye contact with his target to see Ignatz run towards him. "Have you run into Lysithea at all today?"

"Lysithea?" Morgana asked, side eyeing the conversation.

"Can't say I have. Why, were you looking for her?" Claude asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask her a few things before classes started up, but I haven't seen her around anywhere." Ignatz replied, glancing off to the side. "No one I've asked has actually. Hilda thinks she saw her around the dorms a little while ago, but otherwise it's like she vanished."

"Vanished? Well, that's not good." Claude said, narrowing his eyes. "Have you brought it up with an instructor?"

"I tried with Professor Amamiya, but he's not at the… Café?" Ignatz pursed his lips. "I'm sure she's fine, but in case you do see her, can you let me know? Or let her know I wanted to see her?"

"I can do that." Claude nodded.

"Thanks, I'll leave you be then." Ignatz smiled, waving the house leader off as he walked away from the thieves.

"...This is Joker's fault somehow." Morgana noted with a sigh.

Claude blinked, glancing down at the cat. "What is?"

"Knowing our luck, we should check the café first. It might not be linked, but we should still see where our leader went." Morgana replied, taking point as Claude followed the cat back. "Best case scenario, he was simply out when Ignatz went to ask him about where Lysithea went."

"And the worst case?" Claude asked as the two arrived at Leblanc Nouveau.

The student opened the still unlocked door and walked into the empty space before him. "Hey, Morgana. You can read this, right? Because I think he left us a note."

Morgana hopped up onto the counter and read the Japanese written atop the note. "Worst case, which is more probable now that we know where he went, is that he dragged her into Mementos."

"So? He knows how to get her out without trouble. Unlike me." Claude noted.

"Knowing our luck? Trouble likely found THEM." Morgana replied.

[Beginning Navigation]

"Well, that could have gone better." Ren muttered with a sigh, rolling his shoulder as he glanced down at the entrance to Mementos. 'I'm going to have to be careful. Lysithea showing up was not something I was prepared for…'

Ren walked down the stairs into Abyss, the familiar burst of azure exploded around him, bringing forth his Theives Garb as he walked into the darkness.

"...What is happening?" Lysithea said to herself after a moment, peeking out from her hiding spot as she stared down at where the thief had walked to. "First, there's that… Thing that seemingly brought him to wherever this is. And speaking of, then there's this… place? Where'd everyone go? Why did he erupt in fire?"

Lysithea felt a shiver go down her spine, an uneasy look on her face as glanced down into the void at the base of the stairs. "...What's with this feeling? It's… almost twisted."

Lysithea glanced back at the empty street leading down through the dorms before turning to fully face the stairway. "No, staying here isn't going to help me."

Determination flowed within, and she took in a breath before walking down the stairs after her professor.

(Play Last Surprise - Lyn)

"Come on, that's not the best you can do, is it?" Joker taunted, avoiding a quick swipe from the shadow in front of him. It was some strange bear-like thing wearing leather armour. It was bipedal, but it wasn't a straight posture. "You'd think taking your slimey friends out of the way would have done something, but I'm not seeing much of a change."

The bear merely growled, throwing another clawed hand at Joker.

"Fast." Joker muttered with a smirk as he crouched underneath the swing, reaching up to grab his mask. "But…"

Joker pulled, tearing the mask off his face as another addition formed behind him, named simply Grey Ooze, one of the slime looking shadows they fought during Claude's awakening. "Not fast enough!" The thief said with a smirk.

The ooze launched a tendril out, slamming into the front of the armored bear, knocking it over as it slammed onto its front, sliding to a stop in front of Joker.

It glanced up towards the thief, it's gaze meeting the barrel of Daredevil.

(Play - Talk)

"So, let's discuss this like gentlemen, alright?" Joker said, with a raised eyebrow. "Or, in your case, I suppose like bears?"

"Do you ever shut up?" The bear asked, earning a blink from the thief in surprise. "A battle is no place for talk!"

Joker narrowed his eyes, his mask forming back on his face as Grey Ooze vanished. "You say that, and yet… here we are." The thief replied with a slight tilt of Daredevil. "Besides, words can do more to throw someone off their footing than a simple block ever could. I think you've been recently made aware of that."

"Hrm, I can't deny that… Some might call it unhonorable, but in a battle you don't get the luxury of honor." the bear nodded with a grimace. "Well, I suppose we are talking now. What do you want?"

"Join me."

"Why should I? I will tell you now, I have no plans on following someone I find to be unsavory." The shadow responded, glaring up at the Teen. "So, why do you fight?"

"To stand up for the little guy. The ones who are unable to defend themselves. To be their voice amidst the masses." Joker said, without missing a beat. It was the truth, and would always be as such.

"Your words… They have conviction." The bear noted with a nod. "That conviction… it reminds me of-Ah… so that's how it is."

Joker smiled, letting Daredevil fall to his side as the shadow stood up. "I am not just a shadow, I am a warrior from the sea of souls." He said, his eyes glowing vibrantly. "I am Thou, Thou art I. I, Panser, herby pledge myself as your mask. Our battles will be legendary!"

The shadow flashed, turning into a translucent copy of Joker's mask before it slammed into the original, sending out a light wave of azure flame.

(Play Mementos - Upper Layer)

"Oh thank seiros this one isn't also a silent pile of puke." Sprite said within the thief's head.

"Don't harass your fellows! It's in poor taste." Panser said.

"Arsene, make sure they don't make a mess…" Joker said with a sigh.

"They'll behave. If they don't, they don't get access to the café." Arsene chuckled within his head.

"What! No fair! You can't tease a girl with amazing drinks only to then rip it away from her!"

"Then behave, and I won't have to."

"So, what do you bring to the table, Panser?" Joker asked, turning around to walk back towards the entrance of Mementos.

"I am versed in Earth magic and my armor is tough." Panser replied with a nod.

"Wait, Earth Magic?" The professor blinked, coming to a stop. "That's a thing?"

"Of course. I assume you're unfamiliar?" Panser asked.

"Well, it appears we found what took Nuclear's place, Trickster." Arsene chuckled mirthfully.

It was surprising, though understandable in hindsight, that Nuclear magic wasn't present within Fódlan's shadows. The world was simply not advanced enough to know of such energy.

Instead, it appears something else had taken its place.

"Earth, huh? Well, good to have that as an option." Joker noted.

"Indeed." Panser confirmed. "I'm not as efficient with it as other practitioners, but I believed it had its applications."

"Well, it's another option at my disposal. We'll figure the finer mechanics of it out later." The teen nodded, beginning his walk back to the metaverse entrance as the Velvet Room. "Speaking of you guys, what Arcana is everyone? I meant to ask earlier but it slipped my mind."

"Well, I… think the Ooze over there is from the Death arcana." Sprite began. "As for myself, the Lovers."

"And I am of the Temperance Arcana." Panser answered.

"Good. I don't like using you guys as cheat sheets for my confidants, but sometimes having the perspective helps me understand them better." Joker said with a nod.

"We are as much you as we are our arcana, Trickster. Though I believe we had this conversation once before." Arsene replied in Joker's head.

The thief nodded, before coming to a halt as he leaned up against the wall to his left. "Something's there." He whispered, peeking out from the corner into the hallway. Joker's eyes widened behind his mask, a pit forming in his stomach. "Oh please no."

"...The cat is going to drill into you for this." Sprite noted as the Thief stared at the wandering form of Lysithea.

"Nevermind that, look!" Panser said, nudging Joker's focus to the melted mass that was one of Mementos' shadows.

"Shit!" Joker snarled, charging forward towards Lysithea. "Get down!"

"Eh?" Lysithea turned towards Joker, catching sight of his tailcoat as the thief leaped over her, kicking off the wall behind her to ricochet towards the shadow.

"Show me your true form!" The thief shouted, gripping the mask of the shadow before ripping it clean off. He kicked back off the now rippling mass and flipped, landing in a crouch in front of Lysithea, Paradise Lost drawn and ready. "Lysithea, stay behind me!"

"S-sensei!?" Lysithea exclaimed. "What is happen-"

(Play Last Surprise)

The shadow exploded, separating into three feminine bodies with large wings over where their arms would be. "Harpies?" Joker glanced back over his shoulder at Lysithea, a confused look on her face.

"I'll explain later, right now, leave them to me." Joker said quickly, pulling out Daredevil with a flourish, quickly firing off three arrows at the harpies before him.

Still stunned, each shot hit their marks, slamming into the center of the shadows. The arrows sunk in, but didn't ground the harpies, as they readied themselves to go on the offensive.

Joker clicked his tongue as he put away Daredevil. "Well, there went hoping gun would work…"

"Gun?" Lysithea blinked.

"Commander!" Panser began.

"Commander?" Joker asked in confusion.

"Allow me to ground these harpies!" He continued.

"Wait, do you mean harpies in the the literal sense, or are you calling them-"

"Sprite, not now!" Joker shook his head, reaching up to his mask, ripping it free. "Panser!"

The armored bear floated into existence behind the thief, startling Lysithea enough to earn a high pitched yelp.

"Terra!" The thief shouted, throwing his arm down in front of him. His persona slammed into the ground, digging up a slab of rock with the impact before the bear spin kicked it into the air towards the middle harpy.

The shadow let out a squawk of pain as the rock slammed into it, sending it crashing into the ground.

"Huh, that's not bad." The teen muttered, sparing a glance at the downed bird before pointing at another of its still flying brethren. "Terra!"

Panser slammed its foot into the earth, shooting another rock into the air underneath another of the airborne harpies. The shadow glanced down just in time for the rock to slam into the underside of its chin, sending it careening down onto the floor.

"Once more." Joker smirked snapping his fingers as Panser knocked down the last of the three shadows. 'I don't have time to recruit any of them, especially with Lysithea here. Elimination it is then.'

The thief rolled his shoulder before charging in, moving swiftly between the three as he slashed and stabbed his way through the three, sliding to a stop behind them as he tightened his gloves to his hands. "Show's over!"

(Stop Music)

The thief let out a sigh as he stood up, turning around to look at Lysithea, who was taking in the rapidly dissolving forms of the shadows in with unbridled curiosity. "This isn't going to go well…" The Thief muttered, walking towards the girl, letting his sword vanish in a flash of fire.

"What was all that?" Lysithea began, looking over at the professor, eyes looking a little more awake. "Your… outfit, this monsters, YOUR monster, this… place-"

"One thing at a time." Joker said with a sigh. "And how did you even get here?"

"I saw that… glowing object you had and was curious." Lysithea said, glancing to the side. "So I followed you."

"Of course you did…" Joker muttered with a sigh. "Okay, so to start, we need to get you out of here. It isn't safe."

"I'm not a defenseless child, I can defend myself." Lysithea said, narrowing her eyes as she held up a hand.

"That's not what I'm saying-" The thief tried to explain before the hallway they were in began to shake. "What now?"

"What's happening?"

Joker opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as the opening of the hallways closed around them, cutting them off as their surroundings began to morph and change.

(Play Desire)

Joker moved next to Lysithea with narrowed eyes as the room shifted onto that of a library. "As if today couldn't get worse…" The thief muttered, turning around to see the guard railing lining the edge of the floor they were on, leaving the ground floor of the library open to viewing.

"You're back." A voice rang out from the ground floor, grabbing the attention of both Lysithea and Joker.

"That voice…" Lysithea trailed off, running over to the stairs leading down to the ground floor.

"Lysithea, wait!" Joker shouted as he ran after the student, meeting her at the bottom as she stared ahead at her shadow. "Crap."

"W-what is… what is this…?" Lysithea asked, staring into the golden eyes of her other self.

"And you brought my other self." Lysithea's shadow continued.

"Other self?" Lysithea asked, before her eyes landed on the two Crests that were chained to her shadow. "Those are…"

"Lysithea, we need to leave. Now." Joker said, taking a step next to her, eyes never leading the shadow.

"What?" Lysithea's head snapped to look at the professor. Whatever words she meant to follow up with came short as she saw the uneasy look on the thief's face.

"Why leave? Isn't this where you want to be?" Shadow Lysithea asked, glancing over at her other self. "We don't have the luxury of time they have. So every moment must count."

"And if that leads to your death?" Joker spoke up, eyes narrowed. "Do you really think throwing your life away like this is worth it?"

"Don't speak as if you know us, or what we must live with." Shadow Lysithea almost hissed, glaring at the thief.

"Sensei, what is… this?" Lysithea asked.

"This, is your shadow. Your other self." Joker said, motioning to the shadow. "They're your other half. Though, I find they tend to have less of a filter than we might."

"My other self?" Lysithea asked, looking back at the shadow. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Do you see me laughing?" The thief asked.

"Enough! I don't have time to squabble over this. Leave, I won't ask a second time." The shadow demanded, hands balling into fists.

"...Lysithea, let's go." Joker said turning to the girl.

"No."

The thief halted, turning to face the shadow. "Excuse me?"

"She's not leaving here. After all, there's so much that I could learn here!" The shadow elaborated. "She has everything she could ever want here, why would I let you take that from me?"

"...Would you be quiet?" Lysithea began, glaring at the shadow. "Stop talking as if YOU have any understanding of what I've been through. Everything I'd ever need? What kind of joke is that!? A life. I don't have that, and you want to keep me here so I won't be able to experience anything from the sad excuse of one I have!?"

"You do have everything, don't you see! We have it!" The shadow replied, motioning to the library around her.

Lysithea grit her teeth, glaring at the shadow. Joker glanced over to the student and threw his arm out towards her in a panic. "Lysithea, wait!"

"Stop saying we! You're not me!" The girl shouted, throwing her arms down at her sides as she screamed at the twisted reflection before her.

(Stop Music)

"Hey, I found a note." Claude said, looking down at the café's counter. "It's in… well, whatever your language is called."

Morgana hopped up onto the counter and peered down at the note. "Mona, heading out to prepare. Going to recruit some personas now while you guys handle the stakeout. If I'm not back by the time she's seen the card, meet me in Mementos." The cat recited, before sighing. "He's in mementos."

"And there's no mention of Lysithea…" Claude said with a sigh.

"Come on, we're going." Morgana said, hopping off the counter.

"What? Where?" Claude asked.

"Mementos." Morgana said, turning to face his fellow thief.

"What? How? Last I checked, I thought the only way we could enter Mementos was through that… what was it called, an app?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Please, who do you take me for. I've never needed such a thing for this." Morgana smirked. "Now, this will feel a bit weird, but put you hand upon me."

"Alright…" Claude said, crouching down as he placed a hand on the cat's back.

"Morgana… Transport!" The cat shouted, before a pulse expanded out from him, enveloping the two as they swiftly arrived within Mementos.

"Wow, why don't you do this normally?" The teen asked.

"Because it's a bit more cumbersome than Joker's navigator." Mona replied with a shake of his head. "Shoot, we need to move!"

"What? Is something wrong?" Claude asked.

"Mementos feels off, and if I had to put the feeling to a situation, I think a shadow's going berserk."

"Like mine?"

"Exactly like yours…" Morgana said before trailing odd. The thieves shared an uneasy look after those words registered between the two. "Aw, crap baskets…"

(Play Blood of Villain)

"Get down!" Joker shouted, tackling Lysithea out of the way of a blast from her shadow.

"W-what is that thing?" Lysithea asked, staring in wide horror at what was once her shadow.

The shadow standing opposite them was still very much Lysithea, but the Crests had begun to shine brightly, and the chains seemed to increase tenfold, flying out around the girl in something akin to wings. The shadow had scale-like protrusions poking out from various parts of its body, mostly around the face.

"Well, if I had to guess, I think your shadow tried turning into a dragon but gave up halfway there." Joker said with narrowed eyes as he got to his feet, placing himself in front of Lysithea.

"Stop calling it 'my shadow', that thing isn't-"

"Lysithea." Joker said calmly, cutting the girl short as he glanced back at her. "I need you to stay back."

"What?" Lysithea blinked. "W-why?"

"You're shaking." The thief said, freezing the girl still. "Look, you can believe what you wish, but one way or another you're not capable of taking her on like this."

"And you are?" The shadow asked almost mockingly, it's voice echoing across the room.

Joker summoned Paradise Lost into his right hand, gripping it tightly. "Maybe. Maybe not. But I have to try." He said, glancing at the shadow with narrowed eyes. "Lysithea, if there's one thing I'll say right now, is that you aren't going to die."

Joker swung his arm out to the side, sword cleaving through the air as he held his arm out protectively in front of the student. "Not today. And certainly not prematurely. I promise."

"Big words for a DEAD MAN!" The shadow shouted as her throat glowed red, before she lunged forward, firing off a large ball of fire at the thief.

"She can do that!?" Sprite exclaimed within Ren's head as the fireball flew at the thief and the girl behind him.

"Trickster!"

Joker narrowed his eyes and ripped his mask off, summoning forth Arsene as his person threw its arm down at the fireball, slicing it in two.

The flames flew past, slamming into some of the bookshelves behind him. Lysithea blinked, staring at where the flames had impacted, and where they had also vanished without anything alighting.

"Our will has been stated, if you think that will be enough to break it, you are sorely mistaken." Arsene said aloud, earning a glare from the shadow.

The shadow let out a rumbling growl as it swung its arms back before thrusting them forward, launching three whips of chains towards the thief.

Joker threw himself to the side, rolling as he hit the floor. He pulled Daredevil out as he rolled, coming to a stand as he fired 3 arrows at the shadow.

Lysithea's shadow narrowed its eyes and swung its arm, manipulating the chain whips in front of him, deflecting two out of the three fired.

The third continued undisturbed, slicing through the air as it slammed into the shadow's shoulder, causing the warped reflection to scream out a gout of fire.

"Told you." Joker said with a smirk, his mask reforming over his face as Arsene vanished behind him.

"ENOUGH!"

Joker's eyes widened in shock as the shadow launched a dozen links of chain towards him, the full force of the attack slamming into his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs.

The chains swung around and wrapped around the teen, restraining him in place as the shadow walked towards him.

The teen coughed violently as he tried to get air back in his lungs, leveling his gaze onto the shadow.

"You've prattled on long enough." The shadow said, holding a hand up as dark energy began to form in her hand. "I've had it with you!"

"No!" Lysithea shouted, holding her hand up as she launched a Miasma at her shadow.

The attack slammed into its side, but quickly faded as Lysithea's shadow turned to face her other self.

"Fine. He can watch then." The shadow said, snapping her hand that was condensing the curse spell towards Lysithea. The energy surged and fired off towards the student, soaring through the air as Lysithea froze in place.

"Not happening!"

(Play Take Over)

The energy was smashed into the floor before it could impact its target, as a robed figured slammed its foot down on it, landing on the floor along with its user.

"That voice…" Lysithea muttered, glancing up at the thief's garb before her. "Claude!?"

"Surprised to see me?" Rokuō asked, glancing behind at Lysithea with a smirk as his persona vanished, his mask reforming over his face.

"More of you!?" Lysithea's shadow exclaimed in anger.

"Correct!"

Joker snapped his gaze up as Mona leapt down towards him, swinging his sword around against the chains, freeing the leader from his restraints.

"What!?" The shadow exclaimed as it turned to face Mona, before a gale of wind slammed into her front, knocking her off balance.

"Thanks for the assist." Joker said with a smile, looking down at the cat. "I see you got my note."

"Yep. Also, just so we're clear, this better not become a trend, Joker." Mona said with a side glance.

"Glad we're on the same page then." The thief smiled, rolling his shoulder as he walked up to Rokuō.

"Is… is that your cat?" Lysithea asked. "And… did it just talk?"

"She's… surprisingly more lucid than I'd expect." Rokuō noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm… Well, I might have a reason for that, but we don't have time to explain it." Mona replied, as the three thieves focused on the berzerk shadow. "Well, so much for the calling card."

"We can worry about that later. Right now, getting this shadow under control is the important thing." Joker said, narrowing his eyes. "It has Curse and Fire under its control, and it had full control of those chains around her. Curse likely isn't going to work, and Wind's neutral."

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Rokuō asked.

"Mona, keep your distance. I'd rather not leave Lysithea open right now and we can move back in the worst case if we need healing." Joker began, looking down at his partner. The thief glanced over to their newest member and nodded. "Rokuō, you're with me. You're on distraction duty. Buff me whenever you can. I'm going to poke with as many of my personas as possible to find out what she might be weak to."

"Got it. In that case, Robin!" Rokuō shouted, ripping the deer mask off his face. "Tarukaja!"

Robin burst into existence behind Rokuō, it's tome fluttering open as red energy surged around Joker.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Joker asked, getting nods from his fellow thieves. "Let's go!"

Joker and Rokuō charged forward, rushing the shadow as Joker gripped his mask and pulled it off. "Sprite!"

"Poking engaged!" The Persona exclaimed as she fired off a simple Bufu at the shadow. The ice spread over the arm, but was quickly shattered without major damage. "Or… not."

"Well, the help was appreciated!" Joker said, leaping to the side as another fireball was launched his way. "Rokuō, try lightning!"

"On it!" The thief nodded, swinging his arm forward as Robin raised a hand outward. "Zio!"

Lysithea's shadow glared at the Persona as lightning flew towards her. The bolt struck and the current moved, restraining the shadow as the electric shock coursed through her.

"We got her shocked!" Joker shouted over his shoulder.

"I got it! Mercurius!" Mona exclaimed, summoning his Persona. "Garu!"

The winds flew out, circling the restrained shadow and battering it from all directions before finally knocking it over.

"Love technicals." Mona said with a smirk as the three thieves moved into position.

"All out attack?" Rokuō asked Joker.

Joker smirked, leaping at the target with a nod.

"Yeah! All out attack!" Morgana exclaimed as the three moved in to attack.

Lysithea watched silently as the three thieves fought, hands shaking as she watched the fight before her.

"-You're not going to die. Not today. And certainly not prematurely. I promise."

Lysithea grit her teeth. "Why? It… it doesn't matter in the end. What's the point of fighting this…?" The girl muttered, averting her eyes to the fight in front of her.

Mona swung down with his sword before stopping short as he threw himself backwards, a panicked look on his face. "Crap, guys! Get back!" The thief warned the other two.

"Mona?" Joker asked, leaping away from the shadow with Rokuō close behind. "What's,"

(Play The Collapse of Pride)

The teen's words were cut off as the room shook violently. Books flew out of the bookshelves like they had been shot out of a cannon, and the walls began to disintegrate around them as Lysithea's shadow rose to a stand.

"I should've known. This whole library was off the first time we came." Mona shouted, narrowing his eyes at the shadow. "This place is turning into a palace as we speak!"

"What!?" Rokuō stared at the cat.

"Not good…" Joker muttered. "Mona, would Lysithea's rejection of her Shadow affect the formation of the palace?"

"It already is." Mona noted, glancing at the disintegrating walls. "It's stuck between separating from Mementos and collapsing in on itself. The longer this goes on, the worse things will get."

"Then what we need to do is get out of here!" Rokuō said, narrowing his eyes.

"Do you think I'll let any of you go!?" The shadow asked, glaring at the trio, chains spreading out around it.

"Dammit… Joker, do you have any ideas?" Rokuō asked, glancing at their leader. The thief blinked, eyes widening at the lack of any response from the teen. "Sensei!?"

"I'm thinking…!" Ren hissed out, looking up to the shadow as his brain ran through numerous options, each on progressively falling short of ideal. "Come on, what can i-"

"So, you don't have a solution then?"

"Correct. But our lack of one does not mean that you are without a solution."

"I'm not without a solution…" Joker muttered slowly, glancing back up at the shadow. His eyes snapped open wide, a grin spreading out in his face. "I got it!"

"Alright, Joker! What's the plan?" Mona asked, looking up at the thief.

"Rokuō, get Lysithea over here, you and Mona need to keep her safe." Joker said.

"Alright?" The teen nodded, slightly confused as he rushed over to the girl. "Hey, come on!"

"H-Huh?" Lysithea blinked as she was quickly dragged back over to the others. "Wait, what are you-?"

"Okay, now what?" Rokuō asked.

"Now? Now I hope it wasn't a one off." Joker said with narrowed eyes.

"Hope what wasn't a-?" Rokuō's words were cut short as Joker charged ahead at the shadow alone. "Wha- Joker!"

"What does he think he's doing!?" Mona exclaimed, staring in shock as the thief rushed ahead.

"Argh, Just DIE ALREADY!" Lysithea's shadow roared as it swung more chains at the oncoming thief.

"Didn't you hear me earlier? I promised!" Joker shouted, grabbing something out of his pocket. "I promised you that you'd live!"

Lysithea felt her breath catch in her throat as the thief threw the object he had grabbed at the shadow. The orb slammed into its front, before shattering and exploding in a flash of white light and confetti.

"Gah!" The shadow cried out in pain, the holy energy sapping it of strength as the chains lost slack and fell to the floor along with it.

"A happy bomb!?" Mona exclaimed, eyes widening in surprise as the shadow was knocked down.

"Please work!" Joker yelled to himself, leaping up next to the shadow with his arm reared back.

"What are you…?" The shadow's voice was quiet, confusion overshadowing any other emotion present in that moment.

"The root… is mine!" Joker shouted, thrusting his arm forwards…

As he grabbed onto one of the two Crests chained to Lysithea's shadow.

(Stop Music)

There was a single second. One silent second as the thief's hand impacted and grasped one of the two Crests chained to the shadow.

The next second immediately after, all everyone saw was flames.

Joker let out a cry of pain as he ripped his arm backwards, hand gripping tightly to the crest as it burst into azure flames. The flames danced and licked, seemingly fighting against the object they had burst free from.

"Sensei!?" Rokuō exclaimed.

"Wait, that's-!" Mona gasped at the familiar sight before him, before his attention was teared away from his partner just as suddenly.

Lysithea gasped, a feeling of warmth suddenly emerging from within as it spread through her. Her knees buckled, forcing her onto the floor as the sensation wracked her body.

"Lysithea!? Hey, are you okay!?" Rokuō asked, crouching next to her. His concerned questions were only responded by gasps, sending his gaze towards the now fully ablaze leader of the Thieves. "Just what did he do!?"

Joker let out a roar of pain as he pulled, the flames dancing up his arms towards his mask. The chains of the crest pulled and tried to constrict around the shadow further, but eventually gave in and burst into flames, freeing the shadow from the crest.

Joker stumbled back, the crest burning bright in his hands. The orb and flames quickly began to recede, condensing into an orb of fire that suddenly and swiftly flew at the teen's mask.

The thief's body swung backwards at the force of the impact, the fires quickly dispersing as they fused with his mask. The embers slowly dissipated, leaving the thief standing alone in front of Shadow Lysithea.

"...W-what? What did you do?" The shadow asked, voice quiet as they stared up at Joker in shock.

"...I did my best. Did… did it work?" The thief asked, slowly moving to stand upright, even if he was slouching.

"Did what work?" Rokuō asked.

"Gh…" Lysithea grunted as she pushed herself to a stand, stumbling slightly at the apex.

Rokuō quickly turned and caught the girl, helping her stand. "I got you." The thief said.

"I… thanks." Lysithea said, looking over at Joker. The teen looked exhausted, and was likely standing up by sheer force of will. "What… was that? I feel… Lighter?"

Lysithea's shadow breathed in, eyes widening along with everyone else's as the remaining crest restrained to her form began to unwind, releasing the chained restraints as it slowly seeped in and faded within the shadow.

"That… looked important." Morgana noted with wide eyes.

"...You actually did it." The shadow said, looking up at the thief. "That curse… I'm… free?"

"...I'm free?" Lysithea's voice was quiet, almost a whisper with how fragile it came out.

Rokuō glanced down at his classmate. "...Lysithea?"

"Yes… we… we are." The shadow said, lifting her hands up in shock. "...It's so… easy…"

Joker let out a tired breath, watching as the shadow in front of him reverted back to normal. The room stopped shaking, and the disintegrating edges slowed to a stop, the danger passing.

"Joker, are you okay?" Mona asked, walking over to the thief.

"I'm… fine, how's Lysithea?" The thief replied, shaking his head.

The two glanced over towards Lysithea and Rokuó, easily catching sight of the tears streaming down the girl's face. "...She's been through a lot."

"That's… good." Joker muttered, before he stumbled and crashed onto the floor.

"Joker!?" Mona shouted, crouching down next to the thief.

"Huh? Hey, Sensei!?" Rokuō asked, glancing over at his feline teammate. "Mona, what happened?"

"I don't know, he just passed out!" Mona said, narrowing his eyes in concern.

"He absorbed my curse." Lysithea's shadow stated with wide eyes. "No, he absorbed enough of it so the strain of the crest wouldn't kill me…"

"He… he absorbed the crest?" Lysithea asked, pulling herself up to a stand.

"So what if he did? Why did he collapse now? This didn't happen last time…" Mona asked aloud.

"I'm sorry, last time?" Rokuō repeated.

Lysithea paled. "Wait, so he's done this before? Doesn't that mean-"

"Look, we don't have time for questions. We need to get Joker out of Mementos and back to Leblanc." Mona said, shaking his head.

"Be careful." The shadow said, getting Mona's attention as it glanced down at Joker. "The ones who gave me this curse… I have no doubt that they would stop at nothing to get their hands on him if what he could do became known to all."

"Not just them… The church, nobles…" Lysithea trailed off.

"Man, he sure got himself into a mess this time…" Rokuō sighed.

"That's Joker for you…" Mona said with a sigh.

"...What do you plan to do now?" The shadow asked, getting everyone's attention once more.

"What do you mean?" Rokuō asked, crossing his arms. "We were-"

"Not you, my other self…" The shadow clarified, looking at the girl.

"...I don't know." Lysithea answered, glancing down at her hands. "I have… so much more time now, don't I? Where would I even begin?"

"I believe we both can think of a few choice things." The shadow replied simply, a calm look on her face.

Lysithea shook her head, averting her gaze from the shadow. "...Why am I even agreeing with that… reflection…"

"Hey." Rokuō began, placing a hand on Lysithea's shoulder. "...I get it. My shadow was… well, kind of a dick."

"And you thought that was out of character?" Lysithea asked.

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Rokuō asked, surprise evidence behind his mask.

"Maybe not, but looking back it all feels… cloudy." Lysithea noted, placing a hand against her forehead.

"Point is, one way or another they're just as much us as we are. We don't have to like it, I certainly didn't, but I'd just be ignoring a part of me if I let things go on as I was." The thief continued.

"Hey Rokuō, you're not…" Mona began, only to pause as Rokuō smirked at him.

"So how I see it… Is just accepting it's there and moving on. You don't need to proudly say that's all you are, that'd be just as bad, but something like this?" Rokuō shrugged. "I think it's understandable."

Lysithea paused, before coming up to a stand. She glanced over at her shadow before steeling herself, walking up in front of its seated form. "...I hate them."

"I know."

Lysithea narrowed her eyes. "At first, I think it was out of spite. Spitting in the face of what they did to me by doing it all anyways. If I couldn't live a long life, I'd live one that was as full if not more than what was taken from me…"

"But now? I don't know what I want. I can live again…" Lysithea took in a deep breath, locking eyes with her shadow. "WE, can live again."

"...I'm glad." The shadow said, blue flames slowly igniting across her body.

"Huh?" Lysithea blinked, taking a step back in shock as the flames engulfed her shadow.

Her reflection held out her hand to the girl, the flames licking her sleeve as she smiled at Lysithea. The white haired girl nodded to herself, clasping her hand with her shadow's.

The flames quickly engulfed both her shadow, and herself. It was warm, nothing burned or hurt, and as soon as the flames washed over her, they had vanished.

It was then that the pain started.

(Play Awakening)

"Is it finally time?" The voice asked, earning a strangled gasp from Lysithea as pain wracked through her Skull. "You certainly made me wait."

"An awakening!?" Mona exclaimed, glancing over at Rokuō. "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Happy accident?" Rokuō shrugged.

"I don't believe that for a second."

"Your life is now once more within your hands? Are you satisfied with leaving things as they are now?" The voice continued, sending another spike of pain through the white haired girl's head. "Did you not choose to live the way you did to rebel against your cruel fate?"

"I… I did…!" Lysithea grit her teeth, hissing the words out.

"Then why stop there? Do you not foster hatred for those who took that very life to begin with?"

"I…do!"

"I see, then let us begin this next chapter of your life. You shall have my strength in these endeavors, so let us finalize this pact." Lysithea let out a scream of pain as a mask burst into existence on her face.

A smooth black base with small specs of gold ran across the surface of the mask, with bright white lines highlighting the openings for her eyes. The sides of the mask curved down the side of Lysithea's chin to a point, almost mirroring a crescent moon shape if not for the indent where her nose poked out from behind the otherwise smooth mask.

The teen let out a gasp as her hands gripped the curved sides of the mask, pulling at the mask with frantic energy.

"Here is our vow. I am Thou. Thou art I. Let no one stand in your way. Bring light to those who need it most. And most of all, live your life as you see fit!"

A scream tore through the room, the mask tearing off the girl's face with a splash of blood. Familiar azure flames burst forth from within, encasing the girl as Rokuō and Mona watched on.

"Huh, so that's what it looks like from the outside…" Rokuō noted to himself, getting a nod from Mona as the teen lifted Joker's unconscious body onto his back.

The flames slowly began to die down, as Lysithea stepped forwards out from the remaining embers. The girl glanced behind her, taking in the details of the floating form of her Persona.

Long black hair bellowed behind the Persona, as if caught in the wind. A long black cape with a purple inside fluttered similarly behind. The Persona's actual state of dress was a simple two piece outfit with her stomach partially exposed due to the translucent fabric. Dark blue stockings traveled down the Persona's legs and connected with the open toed sandals that were worn.

The face of the Persona was youthful, but its nose and mouth was covered up by a translucent fabric.

Lysithea nodded to her Persona, a light smile on her face. "...Thank you, Nyx."

The persona vanished in a flash of azure flames, returning the mask onto Lysithea's face.

(Stop Music)

"Congratulations." Mona said as Lysithea turned around to look at the approaching thief. "It's not often we have an awakening occur that's not within the heat of battle."

"An awakening?" Lysithea asked with a raised eyebrow, before she glanced down at herself. "Wait, what happened to my clothes!?"

Where her officer's academy uniform once was, a rather extravagant Witch attire had taken its place. There were no long strips of fabric dragging behind her, but various leather pads that seemed to have been dyed black were incorporated around her thieves garb.

It would've looked to be an intimidating ensemble on any battlefield on its own, but the addition of the witch's hat atop her head both gave the girl an air of cuteness on top of the intimidation.

"We can explain everything later, but right now we don't have the luxury of time." Mona began, glancing around the room. "We probably have another minute before this place fully dissolves back into Mementos."

"Besides, we'll want Sensei awake to help explain everything." Rokuō said, walking over to the two, carrying Joker piggyback style.

"For now, let's just head back." Mona said, pulling a Goho-M out. "This might feel a bit weird on your first time."

Lysithea let out a sigh as the four arrived back inside Leblanc Nouveau. The unconscious professor had been laid down in one of the booths as Claude held the strange device said professor had accidentally shown off earlier.

"Okay, so I just press this?" Claude asked, pressing his finger on the screen of the phone, sending out ripples as the four returned to reality.

[You Have Returned Back To The Real World. Welcome Back.]

Claude rolled his neck, placing the phone back in Ren's pocket as he turned to Lysithea. "Alright, there we go."

"We're… back?" Lysithea asked.

"Yep. I know you have questions for us, but it's late and we can explain everything tomorrow if Ren's awake by then." Mona said, hopping onto the table next to the unconscious teen.

"In that case, we should get going. Lysithea's probably exhausted too." Claude noted, glancing over to the girl.

"Excuse me?" Lysithea asked, eye twitching.

"What? You are aren't you? Awakening to your persona takes a lot out of you. I should know." Claude shrugged.

"Oh, uh… Right." Lysithea nodded, glancing to the side. The girl yawned, before stifling it halfway as she glared at her house leader.

"See? Anyways, I'm not gonna bug you about it for now." Claude said with a wave as he opened the door to the café. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Lysithea glanced back to the talking cat as the door to the café swung close behind Claude. "...I… Than-"

"If you're going to say your thanks, you should wait until he's awake to hear it." Morgana said with a slight smile. "If not for him, I don't think we would've had as good of an outcome as we did."

"Well… I suppose I'll wait then." Lysithea said with a nod, walking over to the door to the café. The girl paused, glancing back at Morgana with a raised eyebrow. "By the way… were you always able to talk, or?"

"Answers come tomorrow. Besides, it's complicated and tied into everything else so it's better to do it all at once anyways." Morgana shrugged.

"Fair enough. Tomorrow then." Lysithea nodded, walking out the front door of the café. "...I should go sleep…"

The girl walked silently back to her dorm, unlocking the door as she stepped inside. The door closed behind her with a soft thud, leaving the girl alone.

"Hm?" Lysithea blinked, glancing over to her desk. She walked over and picked up the red card resting atop it, the words "Take Your Heart" displayed boldly on the front. "What is…?"

Madame Lysithea Von Ordelia,

The Slave of Self-Destruction

You have commited the grave sin of personal negligence amid your search for fulfillment, with naught to show for it but the rapidly growing grave you've earnestly dug for yourself.

Your life is your own, but your sins will no longer be. We will take all your distorted desires without fail. This will happen tonight.

From, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

"I believe this is that 'calling card' that they mentioned earlier." Nyx's voice echoed in Lysithea's head. "I suppose in a manner of speaking, they did succeed in what was written here."

"...They really did it." Lysithea said, a tear falling down her face. "I'm… I…"

The years of emotional turmoil that had built up within her was quickly thrown out as relief flooded her systems. Lysithea bit her lower lip as tears flowed freely, the teen collapsing to her knees as she finally let out everything she had bottled up.