(Author's Note)
Hey guys. It's, uh... been a bit?
I wanted to have this out SO much sooner, I really did. Unfortunately, I'm now in the last few weeks of college classes for the fall term, so I have had almost no time to get this stuff worked on when all I can think of is everything else for school.
Anyways, chapter's here now! It's no way near as action packed as last chapter, more of a transitional one between the arcs, if you will. But it's a chapter I feel good about either way so I think you'll all enjoy it.
Right, one other announcement before reviews. I've recently been told that things are looking a bit iffy with FF dot net, for one reason or another. And while I'm not certain that the worst case scenario could happen or whatnot, I've decided to begin crossposting this story to A03. I have an account setup already and I've already got the story up. It won't be everything all at once, but I'll be uploading a chapter a week over there until it's caught up with here. At that point, when a chapters done, they'll both get it at around the same time.
Right, enough about that, onto Reviews!
To Redpika: So first, the P4 style awakenings were mainly because they fit best for the situations at hand. And regarding the new spell type, huh. I looked around and I didn't seem to find anything then, so I figured I'd just make something that worked and run with it.
To Zeromaru Chaos Mode: ;D
Thanks to everyone else who revieved! There were quite a few that really helped my day out when I got those, so thanks! I'll save the review spiel I normally Leave you guys with for now, I think the sentiment is known enough by this point.
Alright, and with that, Onto the story!
...Wait, when did almost 900 people decide this was worth following-!?
"Excellent. Truly, excellent."
Ren grimaced, the words piercing through his head like old violin strings. His senses were numb, a dull pulse of pain surged through him as his eyes flickered open.
"B-bright…!" Ren weakly hissed, clamping his eyes shut as the vibrant blue assaulted his vision.
The thief felt a hand rest softly on his shoulder as the overstimulation of his senses began to dull out, as the soft yet familiar melody of the Velvet Room faded in around him.
(Play Aria of the Soul)
"Do not rush it, Trickster. Your body is merely adjusting." Lavenza said, her voice a whisper.
"What… what happened?" The thief asked, his eyes slowly opening to a squint, catching sight of his attendant, sitting on her knees next to him. Lavenza looked calm, but the relief present in her eyes was not missed by the teen.
"You absorbed one of your Student's Crests." Lavenza explained. "Your body is currently adapting to the new Crest you have."
"Adapt-?" Ren paused, finally sitting up from his lying position on one of the train booths. "Is that why I feel so… concussed?"
"Yes, although it should pass much sooner than a regular concussion. You're already well past the point of worry now." Lavenza noted with a light smile.
"So my gamble wasn't entirely safe then." Ren noted, blinking his eyes fully open.
"It would be foolish to assume any action is entirely safe." Igor spoke up, making his presence fully known to the teen. "It was, however, a minimal risk."
"Did Morgana bring me here? What happened to Lysithea? The others?" Ren asked, grimacing as a spike of pain ran through his head. "Gah, concussed is an apt word for this…"
"Your fellow thieves are fine. Your worries for their safety is commendable, and understandable, but unnecessary for now." Igor said with his trademark smile.
"You are not here physically like with your recent trips. We've drawn your unconscious self here ourselves." Lavenza noted. "As for your target, you'll be happy to know that she has changed for the better."
"So, the change of heart worked?" Ren asked.
"Lysithea did not undergo a change of heart, but the root of her desire was still stolen." Igor answered, an eyebrow raised in amusement. "I imagine she will need a bit more of a guiding hand in order to keep her standing tall. After all, she did awaken to a Persona."
"She did? Well… I suppose we did end up succeeding in the end…" Ren said with a sigh.
"And for that, congratulations are in order." Igor noted. "But that is not the reason for this visit."
"The Crest is, right?" Ren asked. "I've been meaning to ask, but I don't think we ever discussed what's going on with my original Crest. The one Hanneman detected on his machine. It looked like the V you guys have displayed around, the room's… well, logo?"
"It shares a similar purpose as your wild card, though it might be easier to consider it as another aspect of it." Igor began. "However, let me be clear, your Crest was not a boon we granted you."
"It wasn't?"
"The Crest manifested as it did when you arrived in this world. Your wild card likely played a part, the collapse of the metaverse possibly did as well." Lavenza explained, drawing the thief's attention to the conductor. "On its own, the Crest doesn't do anything. Much like your calling card, you need to nurture it and grow for you to gain any of its boons."
"The simplest answer we can give you now is that it is capable of tempering the strain your body would normally be put under by having two Crests. Unlike with Lysithea Von Ordelia, you are capable of housing multiple Crests without such ill fated drawbacks." Igor finished.
"...That can't be good." Ren simply responded with a sigh.
"True. I have no doubt if this news came to light, your journey would no doubt be much more difficult." Igor nodded.
The bell rang out, signaling the trains next stop. Lavenza smiled, turning to the teen. "For now, return to your sleep Trickster. You've earned it."
Ren opened his mouth to respond but the wave of drowsiness that washed over him stopped the words that were on his tongue. The teen's eyes closed shut, as he lightly lied back down.
(Stop Music)
The first thing Ren felt was his bed underneath him in Leblanc Nouveau's attic.
The second thing was the hard floor as he rolled off the side of the bed.
"Why…?" Ren hissed out, placing a hand over his face.
"Ren! Are you alright, I heard a-!" Morgana skidded to a stop as he raced up the stairs, getting a look at the splayed out body of his leader, legs hanging over his bed with the rest of him lying awkwardly on the floor of the attic. The cat fought back a chuckle, ultimately failing. "...noise."
"I've been better." The teen groaned, rolling on his side to flip his legs onto the floor. He pushed himself slowly up to a stand. "How long was I out?"
"Well, you slept through the night. Lucky that, don't want to know what we'd have to deal with if you were comatose for longer." Morgana answered. "They're going to want answers as to what happened yesterday."
"I'd be shocked if they didn't." Ren replied with a sigh as he made his way down the stairs to the café. "...Well, I suppose we can say our first mission as thieves went off without a hitch."
"Are you sure about that? Because last I checked you absorbed a Crest from Lysithea's shadow." Morgana replied with a raised eyebrow as Ren walked behind the counter.
"Lavenza and Igor both said I'm fine. My body's just acclimating to it right now." Ren said, grabbing one of his mugs.
"Just try and be careful." Morgana said with a sigh as he jumped up onto the counter.
"That's the plan…" Ren replied, placing the mug down on the counter as he got to work on his morning coffee.
While a bit stiff, his movement wasn't impared enough that he was unable to make himself coffee. The thief went through the motions, practiced to a point where he was fairly certain he could do it with his eyes closed.
Or at the very least without his full focus on something.
Ren placed the coffee pot down, his mug filled with coffee as he turned to walk to the other side of the counter. As he grabbed onto the barstool to pull himself up, the café's bell rang, grabbing his attention.
"Hm?" Ren blinked, glancing over at the teen that had stepped inside. He wasn't a student, or at least one he hadn't seen yet if he ignored the lack of an officer's academy uniform. The thief made a quick note of the teen's Black hair, as well as his darker skin and orange eyes, traits that seemed to be fairly uncommon in Fódlan. 'A foreigner like me then?'
"You're Professor Amamiya, correct?" The teen asked.
"That's right. Can I help you with anything…?" Ren asked.
"Oh! I'm Cyril. I work for Lady Rhea." Cyril said, nodding at the professor. "I came to let you know that Seteth requests your presence with Professor Eisner in an hour."
"An hour?" Ren blinked.
"Probably to do with school. You are starting the curriculum proper now." Morgana noted.
"Ah, that would explain it." Ren continued, shaking his head with a smile. He turned back to the teen. "Thanks for letting me know. I don't know if you have any time to spare, but do you want anything? This IS a café."
"Oh… Well, thanks, but I have other duties to attend to. I shouldn't keep Shamir waiting anyways." Cyril said with a shake of his head.
"That's fair. I won't keep you waiting then. Did you tell Byleth about the meeting yet? If not, I'd be fine with doing that myself, save you some time?" Ren asked.
"I let her know already, but I appreciate the thought. I should get moving, see you around!" Cyril said, stepping back out of the café.
"Shamir?" Morgana asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know who that is?"
"Maybe they're a knight? We are really only acquainted with the officer's academy right now." Ren replied with a shrug.
"Maybe. Now come on, let's finish your coffee then head out. I think it'd be best if you don't keep Seteth waiting." Morgana said as he stretched.
"I take it you'll stay behind here for now then?" Ren asked.
"Yep. Don't go collapsing in the middle of the street while I'm gone."
"I doubt that's gonna happen."
"Joker. Considering your track record?"
"...I'll do my best?"
"Ah, Professor Amamiya." Seteth said, glancing up from the notes on his desk to look at the Teen. "I see you got my summons."
Ren nodded, stepping up next to Byleth. The swordswoman nodded at him as the two looked over to the advisor.
"Well, since you have both arrived, I believe we should get started." Seteth said, standing up from behind his desk. "Now that we have concluded with the Mock Battle, the officer's academy has begun classes proper."
Seteth picked up a light stack of paper and handed it to Byleth. "As you know, while we gave you free reign on what you trained your students on in preparation for the Mock Battle, the same cannot be said for your regular classes." The Advisor began, handing Byleth the stack of paper. "Included there is the curriculum we want the two of you to teach your students. I've made an outline for you to follow in what subjects they need to learn and what books you'll want to use."
"Of course, you also have training drills, so you'll have the chance to tutor your students in specific fields of combat." Seteth continued, crossing his arms. "If there's a subject that you're struggling to teach your students, do feel free to ask one of the other members of the faculty. I know quite a few who would be open to helping you out on their free days."
"Seteth, you…" Ren paused as the green haired man turned to look at him. "You're more open with us, I think."
"You've proven that you're both capable in the capacity of teachers. Your utter demolition of the mock battle tells enough." Seteth replied. "And you have rallied your class behind you surprisingly fast. So yes, I suppose that I am a bit more open with the two of you."
"Thanks." Ren said, a gentle smile forming on his face.
"Seteth, if I may ask, who is Monica von Ochs?" Byleth asked, grabbing the attention of the other two in the room.
"Wait, why are you-?" Seteth walked over to Byleth and glanced down at the student attendance form on the top of the page. The advisor let out a low sigh, almost a groan as he read the name listed on the page. "Of course, someone will have to update this…"
"Update?" Ren asked.
"Right, you two wouldn't be aware. Monica von Ochs was a student of the Black Eagle house last year. She almost made it to graduation too, but…"
"But?" Byleth asked.
Seteth sighed. "She ran away." He said. "One day she was here, the next, she wasn't."
"Wait, she vanished?" Ren's eyes widened behind his false lenses. "What reason would she have had to leave?"
"We… we were never sure. She was a model student, excelled in most of her classes, and then she just vanished." Seteh closed his eyes, hands clenching around his arms. "We believe she ran away because we never received any ransom. If she was kidnapped, we would've heard something along those lines by now. She's the daughter of Duke Ochs after all…"
Ren stayed quiet, eyes glued to the name on the page. Seteth opened his eyes and looked to Byleth. "I'll take that page for now. I'll have another one drawn up for you two-"
"It's fine. It's a perfectly good piece of paper, why waste it?" Ren interjected, taking the page himself, folding it up as he slipped it into his pocket. "Wouldn't hurt to at least hold onto it for a backup, right?"
"Well… Fair enough." Seteth nodded, relenting the point. "Now, let's continue. I don't believe either have had the Professor Rank system explained to you yet, correct?"
"Professor Rank?" Byleth blinked, cocking her head to the side.
"So, that's a no." Ren said, glancing over at Byleth.
"I'll be blunt. Usually the system is there to reward our Professors into putting their all into teaching their students. If you're Rank is higher, we grant you more budget to work with during the months, more freedom with how you spend your time teaching students, and other boons of varying types." Seteth began, before focusing his attention squarely on Ren. "Unfortunately, you both are starting handicapped."
"What? Why?" Ren asked, eyes widening.
"A precaution, though I want it stated it wasn't my idea." Seteth pinged the bridge of his nose, exhaling sharply. "There are many who believe you to be unworthy of your position, Professor Amamiya, and we've done our best to placate them by using the Rank system as a means of showing that you do fit the role."
"Ah, so it's like that then." Ren sighed, eyes narrowing as he looked to the side. "Foreigners aren't exactly looked highly upon here, are they?"
"It is a shame it's been allowed to come to this, but the Archbishop, and myself, both believe that you two will swiftly prove them wrong." Seteth said, letting his arms fall to his side. "Luckily, we grant these bonuses by Professor, so you won't also have to deal with having your budget split between you. If you do decide to do so, it'll be on your terms."
"It'll give us some room to work with." Byleth noted with a nod. "Thank you, Seteth."
"We'll be awaiting the fruits of your labor. Please, don't let us down." Seteth said, nodding at the two.
"You look troubled." Byleth noted, placing a hand on Ren's shoulder as they left Seteth's office.
"Hm? Ah… just the usual jitters I get realizing I have to teach the students." Ren waved the professor off lightly, eyes glancing to the side.
"No, it isn't." Byleth said, immediately shooting his excuse down. "It was about Monica, the girl who ran away."
"...Yeah." Ren sighed, closing his eyes. "It's just…"
Lysithea, her shadow, the crest chained to her, a warning of the people who did this to her-
"Worrying that there's been nothing." The teen relented.
"It does no one any good by worrying like this though. Besides, you're in no form for that anyways."
"Hm?"
"You've been limping all day." Byleth noted.
The teen grimaced. "Was hoping I'd feel better by now. I'm a bit… lethargic at the moment, I guess. Was working on a project last night that… well."
"Don't go killing yourself." Byleth said.
"I won't. I'm not gonna let it happen again. Besides, I'll be fighting fit before classes start so we'll be good." Ren said with a smile.
"Alright. I'm going to go talk with my father. We should look over all of this later today." Byleth said.
"Sure. This evening at the Café?" Ren asked.
"That works." Byleth agreed, turning to walk to Jeralt's office.
Ren glanced at her retreating form, before narrowing his eyes, activating his third eye as his vision went blue.
"So I wasn't mistaken…" Ren muttered to himself, eyes locked onto the floating form of the ethereal girl tagging along behind Byleth. "Hey, Byleth!"
The mercenary turned around to look at Ren, an action followed by the floating girl, a curious look on the specter's face. "Yes?"
Ren paused, before turning off his third eye with a light sigh. "No, nevermind. I'll see you later."
The teen turned around and walked down the hallway towards the stairwell, leaving Byleth alone.
"...So, what do you think THAT was about?" Sothis asked the girl.
"...I'm not sure." Byleth said, turning back to her father's office.
"I'm back." Ren said as he opened the door to his café. The teen paused as the door swung closed behind him, his eyes landing on the two students sitting in one of the booths.
"Morning Sensei! Hope you don't mind us dropping by. Morgana let us in, so…" Claude said, waving their leader over towards the table. Sitting next to the teen was Lysithea, finally glancing up from the notebook laid on the table in front of her to look at Ren.
"How are you feeling? You collapsed after… that." Lysithea asked, glancing back at the empty pages before her.
"Stiff, but much better than this morning." Ren said, sitting down opposite of the two. "So, I assume you're both here for answers?"
"Getting right to the point, hm?" Morgana spoke up as he leaped up onto the table next to Lysithea. "They are, and I already went over, well, me."
"Alright… so I suppose I should start this by asking how you feel, Lysithea." Ren began, looking at the girl opposite him.
"H-huh?" Lysithea blinked, leaning back. "Me?"
"Crests aren't exactly a… well, they're a new variable overall I should say." The thief began. "So I wanted to know how you feel after… well, yesterday."
"...I… might have given Professor Hanneman the slip earlier today." Lysithea said after a moment, ducking her head to the side.
"Wait, what? Why?" Claude asked.
"...The fact I had two crests wasn't exactly a big secret. Hanneman was aware of them, and after you… absorbed one of my… shadow's? I wanted to know if anything happened to mine." Lysithea said.
"And?" Morgana asked, tilting his head to the side. The girl glanced to the side and sighed, an action caught by Ren.
"...You said 'had'." Ren spoke up, eyes wide, getting the attention of everyone. "So, does that mean you…?"
"My Minor Crest of Charon had vanished, by the Professor's words." Lysithea said. "When he stepped out to grab some supplies, I slipped out to come here for answers. He was a bit… Lively when he saw what happened."
"Okay… I should probably expect to see him pop by asking if I've seen you around then…" Ren sighed, glancing over at Morgana. "You mind keeping a lookout going for him? The sign's set to closed, but…"
"I can do that. If I need to chime in, I can do that by the window." Morgana said, jumping down onto the ground as he ran over to the window at the front of the café.
"Okay, so…" Ren began, turning to look back at Lysithea, only to pause as a red calling card was placed on the table in front of him. "Well. I suppose we're starting with this."
"I found this on my desk in my dorm after… all that." Lysithea said, crossing her arms. "Judging by your response, you know what this is."
"It's a calling card." Ren said. "Usually, we leave something like that for our targets to read. That makes it possible for us to perform changes of heart."
"...How?"
"We'll get to that in a minute." Ren said with a hand wave. "I said normally because you followed me into Mementos. So you never saw the calling card and by conventional methods, couldn't undergo a change of heart."
"But we did change something yesterday, so in the end the card was pretty much a waste of time." Claude noted with a sigh.
"Usually it isn't. But again, we're talking about normal occurrences and not yesterday." Ren cut in, glancing at Claude. He turned back to face Lysithea. "In short, the card is usually required for us to change someone's heart, but it's nothing more than a piece of paper now."
Ren leaned back into the booth. "Moving onto how it works, we first need to discuss the place we ended up in yesterday."
"Mementos." Claude picked up, getting Lysithea's attention. "My understanding of it is that it's a sort of world where we have access to the unconscious mind of everyone."
"Everyone?" Lysithea breathed out, a mix of awe and horror on her breath as the scope of it sunk in.
"Almost everyone." Ren corrected. "But yes, Mementos is the place where the world's collective unconscious converges. There we are able to perform changes of heart on someone by changing their heart."
"Almost everyone?" Lysithea asked.
"When someone becomes distorted, their desires corrupting and so on, their shadow is ejected from Mementos and a portion of the Metaverse forms a physical structure based off their desire." Ren continued. "We call these locations Palaces, and the distorted shadows Palace Rulers, since they usually are in control of their palace."
"And… the Metaverse?" Lysithea asked, notes already scribbled onto the notebook in front of her.
"It's the actual plane, or dimension or whatever that we actually traverse into. Mementos may be everyone's Palace, but it's simply a place within the metaverse. Same as with Palaces." Ren answered. "Back to the calling card, its function in how we perform changes of Heart is paramount. To change someone's heart, you need to steal their desires. But normally, someone's desire isn't viewed as something physical, so our calling card changes that."
"Wait… 'We will take all your distorted desires without fail', that's what the card says." Lysithea stated, eyes widening. "The card makes their desires physical within the metaverse! The thought that someone could steal their desires like a…"
"Treasure?" Ren asked with a smirk, getting a nod from Lysithea.
"She's quick on the upkeep." Morgana said from his spot by the window.
"Not surprised by that." Claude said with a shrug. "But that's about my understanding of it too. Calling cards turns their desires into something we can steal. Once it's stolen, a change of heart occurs, right?"
"Right. We can't kill the person's shadow though, that has drastic effects on the self in reality." Ren continued.
"It does?" Lysithea asked, before pausing as a look of recognition passed over her face. "I assume that means you-"
"We did no such thing!" The words were sharp, like the drawing of steel as Ren's fist clenched, knuckles turning white. The teen blinked, letting his hand untense as he caught sight of the two students staring at him blankly. "Sorry. The Phantom Thieves do not kill, it's a rule. We may act as both Judge and Jury, even if others would say we don't have the right to, but we are NOT executioners."
"So… then how do you know about that?" Claude asked.
"...There was another Persona User who operated using that kind of method." Ren said with a sigh. "We weren't exactly on the best terms. He died in a Palace, by someone else's cognition of him."
The teen sighed deeply. "Enough about that. I think I explained the calling card and Mementos enough for now?"
"Yes, it suffices." Lysithea nodded, before glancing at Ren. "...You keep mentioning the fact you're a Phantom Thief, but… why are you one?"
"...Are you asking for the full story or the reason why I keep being one?" Ren asked.
"...The latter." Lysithea said after a moment.
"I'm interested to hear both, personally." Claude chimed in, earning him an elbow from Lysithea. "Ow-"
Ren glanced over at his partner, raising an eyebrow at the Cat. "...Do you think we can trust them?"
"With?"
"Everything."
"...I don't know for sure, but I'll follow your judgment." Morgana said, getting a nod from Ren.
"Okay, so I understood… half of that?" Lysithea said with a confused look on her face.
"You both." Ren spoke up, getting the undivided attention of both students. "...You've both experienced what it's like to be the odd one out, yes? To have your life screwed over by someone else for their own gains?"
The two narrowed their eyes, almost in sync. "I'll take that as a yes." Ren continued, a wry smile forming on his face. "Congrats, you're in good company."
Ren sighed, leaning back in his seat. "One year before I came to Fódlan, I was falsely accused." Ren said, getting wide eyed looks from Lysithea and Claude. "I was walking home one day when I ran into a man trying to force himself onto a woman. He was drunk."
'And an asshole.' The thought burned in his head as the memory of Shido glaring at him resurfaced.
Ren shrugged. "Barely touched the guy and he stumbled back, fell and hit the floor. Unfortunately, he had some friends in high places, and had me tried for assault." The teen continued, closing his eyes. "I spent the next year in another town on probation, where I did my best to keep my head down so I could live some semblance of a normal life."
"...This man." Claude began, raising an eyebrow. "What happened to him?"
"He ran for Prime Minister. To be the single man in charge of the entire nation." Ren said bluntly, earning surprised looks from Claude and Lysithea. "He even won. Of course, he didn't get far into office, especially since he confessed to all of the horrible things he did in his first speech as president."
"You got revenge." Lysithea stated, a smile on her face.
"I got closure. Revenge wasn't what I had on the forefront of my mind by the time he became our target." Ren corrected, crossing his arms. "But I won't lie and say it didn't feel good kicking his shadow's face in."
"My point is, as the Phantom Thieves we have one goal. To give hope and courage to those without it, to the people who silently suffer under the hand of the people who were supposed to help and guide us." Ren said, eyes determined. "We only take on targets when it's unanimous, and we never take the lives of our targets."
"Claude, you've made your choice already, but I want to extend that same choice to Lysithea." Ren continued, glancing at the teen before locking eyes with the white haired girl. "I heard you awakened to a Persona."
"Nyx, yes." Lysithea nodded. "She's… insightful."
"Talkative?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not as much as his." Lysithea said, motioning to Claude.
"Robin likes to plan. So he can sometimes go on a muttering spree. Kinda like background noise really." Claude shrugged.
"You get used to it." Ren said.
"You have?" Sprite chimed in.
"Not now, Sprite." Panser responded with a sigh.
"Anyways." Ren said, rolling his eyes. "...Lysithea Von Ordelia, I ask this with the understanding that even if you choose to not accept, that everything I've spoken about does not leave this café. Is that understood?"
"It is." The girl said, narrowing her eyes.
"...Good, you already look better than you did yesterday." Ren said, earning a surprised look from her. "Your eyes, the bags have lessened. You absolutely still need sleep, but it's a step."
"I extend this offer to you with the understanding that everyone else is in agreement with my decision. And they will speak up if there are any disagreements." Ren stated, glancing at the two for a moment before locking eyes with the girl in front of him. "Lysithea, the world has wronged you, and will continue to wrong others. If you want to take up arms against the distortion that roots this world down, will you join us, as a Phantom Thief?"
"I will." Lysithea said, barely a breath's length between the two sentences.
Ren glanced at Claude and Morgana, earning nods from the two. He smiled and faced his newest teammate. "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts welcome you into the fold. Glad to have you."
"So, not to be that guy, but I'm pretty sure my inclusion was no way NEAR that dramatic." Claude said, eyebrow raised with a grin that just emanated sass. Ren didn't bother to hide the smirk that flashed onto his face as Lysithea dug her elbow into the teen's side.
"I figured she'd appreciate the semantics of it. But yeah, let's drop the formalities." Ren said with a shrug, leaning back into the booth. "One last thing for the day then, before I have to go get the place ready for tonight."
"Tonight? What, you have a date or something Sensei?" Claude asked with a smile.
"I have all of tonight to go over this month's schedule and plan for what classes I need to teach my house as well as figure out how Byleth and I are splitting our course load." Ren replied, a very tired smile forming on his face that seemingly promised pain if a rumor regarding such began suddenly. "So if you call that a date, sure!"
"...Has anyone ever told you that you're terrifying, Sensei?" Claude asked as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
"Shadows, mostly. And most of my class in high school when my criminal record leaked!" Ren replied with the same smile.
Morgana snickered from his spot as he looked at the new recruits. "We certainly picked an interesting bunch, huh?"
"Yep. Now, let's discuss your codename." Ren said, looking back at Lysithea.
"Codename?" Lysithea asked.
"We have no idea what effect yelling out our actual names might have when in the metaverse, so we use codenames." Morgana spoke up, scratching behind his ear. "I'm Mona."
"Rokuō. It translates to 'Deer King' in his native language apparently." Claude said with a smirk, idly motioning to Ren.
"And I'm Joker." The thief said with a smirk. "As for you… I didn't get a good look at her thieves garb. What are we working with?"
"Thieves garb?"
"The outfit that materialized over you in the metaverse when you awakened your Persona." Ren said with a wave of his hand. "We can explain all this when we next go into Mementos."
"She looked like a witch, actually." Morgana said. "Not one of those creepy ones, sorta like a magical girl with the aesthetic of one."
"A magical what?" Lysithea asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh right, you two wouldn't have that kind of thing here." Morgana noted.
"Hm… Mahou Shoujo…" Ren said, the words rolling around in his head. "Assuming we fully keep to the Japanese naming scheme, Mahoū would be something good to shorten it to…"
Lysithea slowly blinked at the thief, before grimacing. "Is there… a different option?"
"Hm…" The teen leaned back and closed his eyes. "How about… Mana?"
"Mana? Hm… it sounds familiar." Claude noted, closing his eyes in thought.
"It's not really a common term unless you study magic, but it has a few different definitions to it. The one I mainly know, assuming I am remembering it correctly, is that it's been described to be the magic energy that sorcerers call upon when they cast magic." Lysithea said, placing a hand on her chin.
"Another way to look at it would be that Mana is the raw form of Magic before it's been molded by someone. Whether that be through Will, or the other myriad ways you all cast here in Fódlan." Morgana noted.
"Mana… I like it." Lysithea said with a nod.
"Alright then, with that said, welcome to the team, Mana." Ren said with a smile. "Alright, now that that's been taken care of, let's discuss our next move."
"You found a target already?" Morgana asked.
"How? You've been asleep all day, haven't you?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, for most of it anyway."
"It's not a target in the conventional sense, but it could lead to something of the sort." Ren said, pulling out his phone.
"That's…?" Lysithea asked, looking at the phone.
"Oh right, I didn't explain this yet. I'll get to it later, but first…" Ren said, pulling out the attendance form he had taken earlier. "This is the attendance form Byleth and I were given during our meeting with Seteth today."
"Wait, for your class?" Lysithea asked.
"None of the Black Eagles are going to be targeted." Ren clarified, placing the sheet of paper onto the table. "I'm referring to her."
Ren placed his index finger on the page in front of one of the names, before idly opening the metanav on his phone as Lysithea looked down and read the name. "Monica Von Ochs?"
[Candidate Found]
"Huh?" Lysithea looked up. "Where did that voice…?"
"That's the Metanav." Ren said, turning his phone around to show Lysithea and Claude the screen. "Here I can input the name, distortion and location of a person to get access to their palace, or just their name and Mementos if they haven't formed a palace."
"I have so many questions." Lysithea noted, eyes wide and almost shining.
"So! Sensei, mind filling us in on who this is?" Claude asked, cutting into the conversation.
"Monica was a student of the Black Eagle house last year. Apparently she was on her way to graduating from the academy before she suddenly vanished." Ren said, placing his phone on the table.
"Well, that doesn't sound good. Vanished how, Ren?" Morgana asked.
"Gone without a trace. They think she might have run away, since there wasn't ever a ransom note sent out for her, but the pieces don't fully line up with that." Ren said, crossing his arms. "For one, she didn't have a reason for it, not one that any of the faculty could see. And it was better to think of something like that then her possible demise."
"So, why is she our next target then?" Lysithea asked.
"Because she's still alive." Ren said, motioning to the Nav. "It wouldn't find her if she wasn't alive anymore. Which means she either did run away, or something worse is going on."
"And not to jump to conclusions, but after learning about the people who did… that, to you? I'm a bit concerned it might be something along those lines as well." Ren continued with a sigh. "For all it is, it might be simple paranoia, but…"
"But it's also possible it isn't." Claude finished with a nod. "Well, one way or another we're stuck without any leads, and this is the closest we have to anything new."
"Agreed. And besides, even if we don't find anything to worry about, it will still be a trip we can use to train. We have a full team, so we should work on our coordination while we're there." Morgana said.
Ren nodded before tilting his head at Lysithea inquisitively. "I'll do my best to not hold any of you back." The girl said, eyes alight with determination.
"Then we're all in agreement. Next chance we have, we're heading into the metaverse and looking for Monica's shadow." Ren said.
"Hey guys, I see Hanneman." Morgana said, looking out the window. "I'm not sure if he's coming this way or not though, so we should probably cut the meeting short for now."
"And it would likely be for the best if I joined him." Lysithea noted with a sigh.
"Then I think we're done here." Claude said, slipping out of the booth as Ren put his phone away. "Guess we'll see you around, Sensei."
"I guess you will." Ren nodded with a smile. "Lysithea, if anything comes up regarding your Crest-"
"I'll let you both know." The girl said with a nod as she followed Claude out of the Booth. "Again… Thank you for everything."
Ren simply nodded, watching the two leave the café. The bell chimed as the door opened, swinging closed moments later leaving the two original thieves alone. "...We should have a celebration when we next can." Ren noted, a smile on his face. "We DID successfully complete this mission."
"We'd have to find a place to celebrate. Nothing wrong with having one here, but we haven't really looked at the other establishments nearby the monastery yet." Morgana noted.
"True." Ren shrugged, getting up from the booth as he moved behind the counter. The sink turned on and after a quick wash of his hands, he turned around to face Morgana. "Okay, so let's discuss."
The thief reached into one of the nearby cupboards and pulled out two pans and a large based pan with a lid, placing one of the t onto the stove top as he began pulling ingredients aside to prepare for tonight's food. "Discuss?" Morgana asked, leaping onto the counter as Ren got to work.
"A few things to note. First, I was visited by Lavenza and Igor while I was unconscious." Ren began, placing down two onions onto the board, skin quickly peeled before his knife sliced along the board as the onions were cleanly and quickly sliced and diced. "I told you that part already, but I feel I should go into a bit more depth regarding this."
"It'd be appreciated."
"Right, so apparently that Crest Hanneman found? It acts sort of like my wild card, but with other Crests. So when I absorbed Lysithea's Crest, it actually became part of me." Ren explained, placing the chopped onions into a bowl, quickly wiping the board down before placing 2 cloves of garlic on the board. He pressed the flat of the kitchen knife against the sides of the cloves and pressed down until a light crack was heard. "And unlike Lysithea, my Crest makes it so I don't suffer the strain of having multiple of them flowing through me."
"...That can't be good, Ren." The cat deadpanned as Ren peeled the skin off the garlic cloves, quickly tossing them in the trash as he quickly began to mince them.
"That's what I said!" Ren agreed with a smirk, sliding them into a small bowl before placing the prepared garlic down next to the diced onions. "But as long as this information doesn't get out, we should be fine. If it does, then I'll just wind up with a bigger target on my back."
"Right. No reason to add to your notoriety. We're already running a bit hot there with your position as a Professor of the Academy." Morgana noted as Ren wiped down the board once more before flipping it over.
"True, but with that I get to embrace the time honored phantom thief tradition of living a flamboyant double life." Ren waved Morgana off, placing down roughly five hundred grams of stewing beef onto the board. He placed the knife to the side, pulling out a separate knife as he began to cube the stewing beef. "On one hand, I'm a Professor of an academy teaching the very people who might one day be sent out to capture someone of my stature, and on the other, well…"
"Yes yes, we're living on the edge and all that." Morgana rolled his eyes. "So, what else is there?"
"Mainly? Planning how to proceed from here." Ren said, placing the cubed beef into another bowl before moving the board to the sink, setting it down as he pulled a few different pans out. He placed two down off to the side as he adjusted the third on the stove. "Because ignoring the academic side of things, we're still way out of our depth."
The thief sighed, shaking his head. "Though we're still a bit shaky on that, too…"
Ren grabbed the glass jar sitting on the counter to his left, popping the cork off with one hand as he poured the vegetable oil into the pan, eyeballing roughly a tablespoon before turning on the stove.
"Our first order of business is to find the time to actually go into Mementos." Ren said, crossing his arms. "I'd rather go in with Claude and Lysithea if possible, but the opportunity will likely arrive sooner when Byleth has charge of the class."
"We can run it by them if need be. I can't say for sure with Lysithea, but Claude seems like the type who could be persuaded into skipping class." Morgana noted.
"Maybe, but we should save things like that for emergency scenarios. If he were to keep skipping class during the time I have off, it'll show a pattern." Ren replied, watching the oil heat up before dumping the onions into the pan.
"It would, sadly." Morgana nodded, the two falling into a silence as the onions softened. "What exactly is the plan for Monica? Because as much as it would be good for this to result in a new lead, it may be nothing at all."
"Well…" Ren blinked, glancing away from the pan as he idly stirred the caramelizing onions. "I just have this feeling, I suppose."
"Okay, fine, but assume we don't get anything from her. What's our next move?" Morgana asked.
Ren's expression twisted at that, morphing into a grimace of sorts that looked as if he had just heard a bad joke and was annoyed that he'd almost laughed at it. "Living an honest school life." The teen said with a shake of his head. "There's honestly no real telling that we'll be able to find anything to go off of like we did back in Tokyo. Our faces can't be held to the ground like they were back there. We're too… high priority, I suppose would be the best descriptor."
Morgana sighed. "Was afraid you were going to say that."
Ren grabbed the prepared garlic and tossed it into the pan with the onions. He reached to his left, grabbing a grater as he quickly grabbed a nearby carrot. "It also means we need to find someone who can be our eye in the crowd, so to speak." Ren said, grating the carrot down into the pan before he grabbed a small jar of pre grated ginger, sprinkling a desired amount into the pan as he stirred the mix around with the spoon.
"It won't be easy finding someone like that though." Morgana noted, glancing over to the side as Ren picked up an apple and quickly peeled the skin off it. "So, we have two potential confidants to look into then. Someone to fill in as our doctor, and someone to manage our information network."
"Yep." Ren nodded, coring the apple with a practiced ease before smirking at Morgana. He tossed the apple into the air and activated his third eye, time slowing down as he aimed and swung. His arm blurred as the knife cut through the air, dicing the apple into small chunks that quickly fell down and landed into the spice mix forming in the pan.
"You've been practicing." Morgana noted with wide eyes.
"Yep." Ren nodded with a smile, giving the pan one more stir as he watched the apples mix in. "That should be another minute or so…"
"Alright, another question. What's the plan for Hanneman?" Morgana asked. "We both know he'll want to ask more about your Crest when he next can."
"...Yeah, you're right." Ren sighed, giving the pan one more stir before he put it aside, grabbing another clean pan as he added some butter to the pan. "He might be keeping my Crest under wraps for now due to… everything really, but if I have the machine scan me and it shows the other two I got since…"
"There a chance that he'll keep quiet about that as well?" Morgana tilted his head to the side, his feline features shifting into the closest equivalent of a furrowed brow he could make.
"I don't know." Ren said after a moment, placing the cubed beef into the pain, the meat sizzling on contact with the heat and melted butter. "I'd like to say yes. He's already established why my Crest being brought to light would be bad for me, but if I suddenly showed up with two more, it would likely… Shit."
"Ren?"
"Lysithea's Crest." Ren said with a groan, flipping the cubed beef around so each side began to fry. "He knows that her Crest vanished, so if I show up with a Crest just like hers…"
"Ah, that wouldn't be good at all." Morgana nodded. "So for now we avoid Hanneman?"
"Not really feasible, but we can delay anything to do with my Crest for now with him." Ren said after a moment, moving the pan aside as he looked over the cooked meat. The teen placed the last clean pan onto the stove, grabbing a nearby bowl of flour as he got to work deep frying it. "We'll have to prepare for the eventuality of actually checking it again later though."
"But not today." Morgana glanced over to the door. "...Byleth will be here in a few hours, right?"
"By my estimate?" The thief replied, looking down at the time on his phone before adding a small container of various spices to the fried flour, mixing it all together for a moment as he put his phone away. "She'll likely show up in a little over 2 hours."
"Well, you certainly started at a good time for that then." Morgana noted as the teen stirred the contents of the pan around.
"I try." Ren said with a smirk, reaching to a cupboard on his left, pulling out a large basting pan from within. He picked up the spice mix off the stove and slid the heavy basting pan onto the burner, setting aside the last of the three pans. "Now then."
Ren dumped the contents of the spice mix, the cubed meat, and the onion mix to the basting pan, giving it a quick stir to incorporate it all together before reaching to the side as he grabbed a bottle of red wine. "I know I shouldn't be too surprised since it's… well, medieval times or comparable, but I still feel it was too easy for me to get my hands on red wine."
Morgana blinked, tilting his head to the side. "What, are you complaining about that?"
"Nope. Just surprised." Ren said, eyeballing out just under a cup of the wine as he poured it into the pan. He placed the bottle to the side as grabbed another prepared jar of beef stock, pouring the entire jar in with the wine. "And then…"
Ren turned around, grabbing a bay leaf from a nearby jar filled with such leaves. He turned around and dropped it into the mixture within the Pan and stirred. "Wait for it to boil…"
It took a minute, but as the mixture began to bubble the teen smiled and turned the heat down, easing it into a gentle simmer. The thief reached back into the cupboard and pulled out a pot lid, placing it over top of the pan with a nod. "And now? We give it about 2 hours to cook. Once that's done, then we add in the rest of the stuff and serve with rice and coffee. Just as the Boss intended."
"Right then, while we wait for that, I should get some of this cleaned up." Ren said, turning to the mess of dirty pans and utensils. "...Yeah, let's do that."
"She's here." Morgana said, glancing out the window. "Everything ready?"
"Pretty much, just have to plate it." Ren noted as he pulled out two coffee mugs. "Door's unlocked?"
"Ah, gimme a moment." Morgana said, running over to the door before jumping up, batting the door lock into its unlocked position. "Now it is!"
"Thanks!" Ren said, pouring out one of the cups as a knock rang out from the door. "It's open!"
Morgana walked out of the way of the door as it opened, allowing Byleth entry to the café. The swordswoman paused as the door closed behind her, taking a moment to breathe in the aroma of the café. "You've been busy."
"You mean with making food?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow, pouring out another cup of coffee.
The woman nodded, earning a chuckle from Ren as he picked the mugs up and moved to one of the booths, placing them on the table as he stepped back towards the counter. "Take a seat, I'll be right there with food in a moment."
Byleth nodded, sitting down at the table. She placed a stack of paper to the side, clearly the same stack that Seteth had given them earlier that day.
Ren got to work plating the curry, quickly grabbing the necessary silverware as he shuffled out of the kitchen with both in hand. He placed the two down lightly on the table and sat opposite Byleth, picking up his spoon as he glanced up at his co-teacher. "So, where do we want to start tonight's proceedings?" He asked, taking a bite from the curry.
Byleth picked up the top sheet, laying it on the table facing Ren. "Deciding what classes we'll handle would be the best place to start." Byleth said, motioning to the sheet.
Ren nodded, glancing down at the page. "History, Mathematics, Combat Theory… Battle Theory?" Ren blinked. "Aren't those two the same thing?"
"Combat theory pertains to the actual fighting, while Battle Theory focuses on the bigger picture." Byleth noted before taking a bite of the food.
"Ah. Right, then lastly there's Geography and… Two professor specific courses?"
"Each professor is different, and they can teach other things that may not normally be brought up in the usual course load." Byleth replied. "Which means we get to make a course on whatever subject we feel would be a good addition. I believe that's what the note Seteth left with this implies."
Ren hummed to himself, leaning back into the seat. "Of course, that's also not including the actual physical training, the weekly chores that we can assign students to, or the free periods we have control over." Ren noted, crossing his arms. "...Okay, so how about this; history, geography, and combat theory. You probably know more about Fódlan's history and Geography than I, so you would likely have a better time understanding and teaching it than I would."
"True. But combat theory?" Byleth asked.
"Which one of us is the hardened mercenary with years on the job?" Ren replied with a raised eyebrow. "You excel at the up close and personal aspect of this. So it makes sense for you to do that."
"Which would leave you with just Math and Battle Theory." Byleth noted.
"Unfortunately we are splitting 5 courses between the two of us, so it's not really easy to split it evenly." Ren agreed with a shrug. "Math was never a big problem for me, and I'm very used to planning out my actions before going into a fight, as we've seen, so if we wanted to split the theory classes between the two of us, I think that would be the best way to do so."
"Your logic is sound." Byleth replied, taking another bite of her food. "Yes, I think this would work best for us."
"By the way, what are these blocks for?" Ren asked, pointing to a spot the schedule which was highlighted as Blue, before moving to another highlighted yellow.
"Our custom classes, we're apparently going to have a period to teach them to the other houses." Byleth said, motioning to the schedule. "I assume that's what it's referring to."
"That'd be good. Gives us time to talk with Claude and Lysithea during school hours." Morgana noted.
Ren nodded, taking a few moments to eat before he glanced back at the schedule. "We're alternating courses by the week." He noted, before shaking his head. "So, what's next then?"
The teen glanced down at Byleth's plate, noting that she had already gone through half of her meal at some point. "What our plans are for our custom courses." Byleth decided after a moment. "I was thinking of doing a course based on my time as a mercenary. Leading your men in battle, general things to know when dealing with sellswords and battalions. It needs refining, but I think it'll be invaluable. Especially to those who may inquire about such services."
"I can see it working." Ren nodded, taking a sip of his coffee as he glanced up in thought. "Based on past experience then?"
He looked over to Morgana, the cat silently watching the meeting with a small plate of tuna placed to his left.
"...Well, I certainly have an idea in mind." Ren noted, a smirk on his face. "Not sure everyone will like it however."
"How so?"
"Because half of it will involve tossing whatever belief they have in honorable combat into the trash." Ren answered with a serene smile. "After all, I fully intend to teach them every dirty, dishonorable and lifesaving tactic that I know. Their honor won't thank me, but I believe that THEY will."
"And the other half?" Byleth asked.
"Infiltration, perception, stealth, all important skills that may not be immediately noteworthy in a fight, but much like a simple face in the crowd, looks can be deceiving." Ren smirked, taking another sip of his coffee before digging a bit more into his food.
The teen glanced up at Byleth, taking note of her eyes glancing a bit to the right. Ren swallowed, before letting his third eye activate.
"-iend is terrifying when he wants to be." The voice of the ghost rang out as it snapped into existence. "Still, his idea has some merit… Even if he does look a bit proud of himself for some reason."
Ren fought against the rising urge to let his eye twitch, instead schooling his expression into a calm neutral. "Still not certain of what I'd call the course though." He said with a shrug. "It's a bit… all over the place."
"All over the place, he says." The girl said with a shake of her head, floating over next to him. "We sure this guy wasn't an assassin or something before coming here? Because it feels like a lot of that correlates."
Byleth glanced back to Ren, almost inquisitively at that. The thief just smiled, doing his best to look innocent in whatever crime he didn't commit.
Byleth didn't say anything, but it was clear something happened as the ghost shrugged. "Okay, fine, point made. He's still weird."
'She does sound like Morgana…' Ren idly thought before shrugging. "So, unless I'm mistaken, I think that's all the important things to go over then?"
"I believe so." Byleth replied with a nod.
"Uh, no? Come on, ask him about the divine pulse already!" The girl whined, whined, at Byleth as she swung her translucent arm out in front of Ren, her hand held out extended inches from his face.
The teen merely blinked, before sighing. "Alright, enough beating around the bush then." He said, earning confused looks from the three in the room.
"Joker?" Morgana blinked, tilting his head.
Ren turned his head to face the ghost, eyes locking onto the other as the girl realized he was looking directly AT her. "Please get your hand out of my face please."
"...W-WHAT THE HELL!?"