(Author's Note)
Hey guys! It's me! I'm back! Sorry about how long it took to upload this, I did have it done a bit earlier, but I figured since I was so close to having everything reuploaded on AO3 that it would be good to release it soon after all that was done.
Speaking of, AO3 is finally fully caught up with you guys here! As things go further, I'll be uploading these chapters simultaniously across both sites. I will be responding to Reviews and Comments from both separately though, so as to not confuse anyone who tries looking for the initial comment or review that is on a separate site entirely.
Also, since I always seem to feel the need to do this, THANK YOU ALL! Fuck, 1000 followers? And over 750 favourites!? I still feel like this is a fever dream half the time, you have no idea.
Alright, enough of that, let's get on with the Reviews!
To everyone who noticed the capitalization errors at the start of the last chapter, thanks for letting me know, I got those fixed up pretty quickly once I noticed things were off.
To PrincessOfTimeATH: There will be more thieves joining the fray, just not immediately. The scenario needs to be right for when some may join the team.
To Jlargent: I don't know if that would specifically be a lesson for "The Box", but I wouldn't put it past him to make it optional extra credit.
To archsage328: I don't remember if Merchant was ever an arcana that was swapped in at all in any specific Tarot Deck, I know that I mainly needed to make up a new one for Anna. As for what is or is not included from Three Hopes, I don't own the game specifically, so anything I include is going to be few and far between. That said, while it may seem like I may be heading down a path that will NEED said information, I have plans that, well, spoilers.
To everyone else who left a review, thank you so much! They really help me with motivation and writing stuff out. (I also recently realized that this site turned off my email notifications for the Guest Reviews, so I had a fun time catching up on those recently once I realized.) If any of you have the time, please leave a review once you're finished. I like the interaction I get by answering any questions you guys have (Within my capability to do so) and again, they help my motivation.
Alright, enough of this, let's get on with the show!
(Play Mementos - Upper Layer)
"Woah!" Lysithea gasped, arms flying up in shock as azure flames burst overtop of her. "Eh?"
She paused, looking down at herself as the flames dissipated, her thieves garb manifesting in full. "Don't worry, you'll get used to that." Mona noted with a nod as he walked up to her, two more flashes of azure shooting up off to the side.
"Admittedly, I'm still trying to get used to… all of this. Your ability to talk being one of them." The white haired girl noted, rubbing the back of her head. "It's… Mona in this world right?"
"And it's Mana for you here." The feline responded with a nod.
"Mana, Mona… Is that going to get distracting at all?" Rokuó asked with a raised, tilting his head to the side, the antlers on his deer mask barely missing the side of Joker's domino mask.
"I think we should be fine. Context can go a long way, and right now Mona is running navigation for us so there shouldn't be any major mix up on his end there." Joker noted, placing his hands in his pockets. "Now, this isn't a full dive into Mementos today, all of us have class tomorrow, but I wanted to see what we could possibly be working with regarding Monika. So, we'll be making our way down to find her, but first we're doing some prep up here."
"Prep?" Mana asked, tilting her head to the side, the witch hat on her head flopping lightly with the motion. "What with?"
Joker smirked, before ripping his mask off in a flash of fire. "Arsene!"
The gentleman thief flared to life behind the Trickster, illuminating the room lightly as he bowed to the others in the room. Joker nodded, looking over at Mana and Rokuó. "Personas. We're gonna see what you both can do."
"Well, if I knew we were gonna show off." Claude said, grabbing one of the antlers of his mask before ripping it off as well, summoning his Persona behind him as well. "Robin!"
The tactician flashed to life, tome in hand. "A test of our abilities? A good choice. Knowing what we can do is a must when planning a battle." Robin said with a nod.
"So I just… rip the mask off?" Mana asked, reaching up to grip the sides of her mask.
"It may feel stuck, but you just need to give it a firm tug. After an awakening, it gets much easier to pull the mask off." Mona noted from the girl's side.
"Right… Nyx!" Mana shouted, pulling the mask off swiftly. Azure flames burst to life above her as the Persona was manifested.
Nyx slowly lowered down, coming to a stop next to Mana's right shoulder. Joker nodded, a smile on his face. "Alright, that's good. Mona, you want to show off as well? We know what you can do pretty well."
"I'll wait on standby in case anyone gets dinged up. I'm more curious what Mana can do." The cat replied, placing his hands on his hips. "Rokuó has his lightning and can buff us if needed, I'm our healer, and Joker's capable of summoning multiple Personas. But what can Nyx do?"
The witch paused, glancing up at her Persona. "Well, I think I can do what Sensei can." She said after a moment, pointing off to the side. "Eiha!"
Nyx raised her hand into the air and swung it down, sending out a pulse of Curse energy at a vacant space away from the group. "Yep, that's curse alright." Mona nodded. "And it's Joker for him when we're here. Don't want to cause any avoidable changes in cognition by yelling our names out."
"Right. There's more though… I'm just trying to put my finger down on… what it is." Lysithea said, holding her hand out.
"Why not just ask Nyx?" Joker asked.
"Where's the fun in that?" The Persona asked, shrugging. "Magic is a study like any other, better to learn through experimentation here than get the answers handed to you."
"Your Persona's as stubborn as you, Mana…" Rokuó chuckled.
Mana narrowed her eyes at her house leader before pointing to a space next to him. "Agi!"
Nyx smirked, launching a fireball over the deer's shoulder, earning a yelp from him as he jumped to the side. The fireball crashed into the wall and dispersed, leaving Mana smirking at the display.
"And fire." Joker said, crossing his arms. "That's good; a lot of elements to play with."
"Please don't throw fireballs at me again." Rokuó said after a moment, eye twitching.
"Don't ask for it then." The girl replied with a smile.
"Unfortunately, this is my other self. He likely will." Robin noted with a shake of his head.
"Hey, who's side are you on, exactly?" Rokuó asked.
"A thief, a tactician, and a mage. What a fine collection of individuals we've gathered today." Arsene said with a laugh, the chains clasped to him rattling as he clapped. "Now, I believe we have other matters that need tending to, Trickster."
"Right. I think it's time we introduce Mana to the Velvet Room." Joker said, turning to the side as Arsene vanished, his mask reforming over his face.
"The Velvet Room?" Mana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep. We'll explain once we're inside." Mona said, turning to look over at Joker, who was standing in front of Lavenza, the ethereal blue train doors of the Velvet Room manifested proudly for the thieves to see.
"I… How long has that been there?" Mana asked, her persona vanishing with Rokuó's as the three stragglers walked up to Joker.
"Just ignore that part. It's easier to digest the rest if you do." Rokuó noted with a shrug.
"Lovely." The witch said with a sigh.
"Trickster. I see you've brought your new teammate." Lavenza said with a nod.
"Yes. I figure that we should introduce her to the Velvet Room while I'm busy preparing." The thief said, pulling out his Velvet Key.
"Preparing?" Mana asked, sounding more lost with each moment.
Joker shook his head with a smirk. "It'll be easier to explain inside." He said as he tapped the train pass against Lavenza's compendium, the book lighting up for a moment before the doors to the Velvet Room slid open.
"Woah!" Mana jumped back, eyes wide. "How-!?"
"You know, I've been wondering, why does Joker need to tap his key to get in? I don't recall the key ever having to be used before." Mona asked.
"Oh, it doesn't." Lavenza replied with a smile, earning a dumbfounded look from all but one of the Thieves.
"I have been a bad influence on you." Joker said with the biggest smile plastered on his face.
"Now then, please watch your step and welcome aboard." Lavenza said, sweeping her hand to the side towards the open door with a light bow.
(Play - Aria of the Soul)
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor said, smiling widely at the sudden appearance of the Thieves. "And you've brought a new visitor as well."
"Eh?" Lysithea blinked, suddenly finding herself sitting on one of the couches of the train next to Claude. "Wait, what-?"
"Morgana, if you could explain to Lysithea what this all is?" Ren asked, moving towards the door of another train car with Lavenza in tow. "I have to go do some fusing."
"Fusing?" The white haired girl asked weakly, looking over at Claude for help.
"Hey don't look at me, I'm as lost as you are." Claude replied with a shrug.
"Well, you're no help." Lysithea muttered.
"Why did you expect me to be?"
"Okay, enough of that. Let me explain what this all is then."
"Huh…" Ren paused, looking around the much larger space that was available for the fusion room. "You guys aren't expecting a lawsuit over patent infringement are you? You know, with all the blue and bigger on the inside stuff going on here?"
"I don't think we'll need to worry about something like that." Lavenza replied with a chuckle. "Now, shall we discuss fusions?"
"Right. I have Sprite, Panser, and Grey Ooze. I don't know what would happen if we tried fusing Arsene with a persona of a different collective unconscious so let's… hold off on doing that." Ren said, shaking his head.
"Well, shall we register your Personas in the compendium first?" Lavenza asked, holding out the book.
"Yeah." Ren nodded, placing his hand against the cover of the book. His mask flashed to life over his face, before flashing a few more times as he shuffled through each of his Personas. "Alright, let's get fusing."
"Before that, there is something I need to make you aware of." Lavenza cut in, earning a nod from Ren. "While we were able to offer you the ability to wield and fuse Persona that would normally be too strong for you to handle, we cannot offer this service at this time. Not at least until you fully acclimate with this world's collective unconscious."
"Well, being overpowered at the jump was never the intention, but I appreciate the heads up." Ren said with a smile. "Right, let's get started."
"Ooh! Me first!" Sprite said, popping into existence in front of the thief.
"Wait, seriously?" Ren asked with a blink.
"Yeah! It's not like you won't just summon me again through the compendium or whatever." Sprite said with a shrug. "Besides, goddess knows that these lugs over here could seriously use some of my good vibes!"
"Excuse me!?" Panser exclaimed, popping into existence opposite Sprite.
"Oh, right, sorry. Minor mistake with that. Arsene's cool." Sprite replied with a wave.
"Grr… Trickster, perhaps it would be best I fused with this one first. It might even teach her some tact!"
Ren blankly looked over at Lavenza. "I despise saying this, but at least in the prison my Personas argued less during fusions."
Lavenza only smiled.
Ren sighed, taking his hand off the compendium as he glanced back to the execution equipment. "That's always a weird feeling."
"But it is done. And with two more Personas." Lavenza said.
"And what personas they are~" A female voice echoed in Ren's mind.
"Why am I not surprised your fusion with Ooze created her…?" Panser sighed.
"Hey… she's great!" Sprite said, sounding annoyed by the insinuation.
"At least when we fused the Trickster got someone honorable. She on the other hand-"
"You're just mad she's not into you at all."
"We are the psychic manifestations of the same person, why should that matter?" Panser groaned.
"Children, please stop arguing." A man spoke up, sighing lightly.
"Yes, cease this. Unless you'd rather I close shop early today." Arsene said, quickly shutting everyone up. "Better."
"How the hell do you even have a café in there?" Ren asked aloud.
"Hard work and determination. Which, seeing as I'm the original aspect of yourself, I have in spades." Arsene replied almost smugly.
"At least Angel and Succubus aren't at each other's throats this time. There's a reason I tried to not have them equipped at the same time back in Tokyo." Ren sighed.
"Will that be all then?" Lavenza asked.
"Yeah, I think I'm good. I'm at five Personas now, and Arsene still covers most of what Ooze offered." Ren said with a nod. "Besides, I think I've kept the others waiting long enough. We only have so much time today."
"Then let's return to the main car." Lavenza said, stepping past Ren as the two made their way out of the fusion car.
As the two stepped back into the main car, they were quickly greeted by Morgana. "So, everything in order?" The feline asked.
"Yeah. I have everything sorted. Let's get going." Ren said, looking over at the two golden deer students. "You both ready?"
"I think so. We just finished explaining what this place is to Lysithea." Claude noted with a shrug. "I'm a little lost in one or two minor areas, but I'm fairly sure she understands it all perfectly."
Ren glanced over at the white hair girl for confirmation, getting a simple nod as a reply. "Alright then, let's get moving."
"Thank you once again for riding the Velvet Express. We await your next visit!" Lavenza said with a bow as the quartet walked out of the Velvet Room.
(Play Mementos - Upper Layer)
Reality warped around the thieves, and the next thing they knew, they were back in Mementos.
"...Okay, so I need to ask." Mana asked after azure flames erupted from all 4, their thieves garb reforming around them. "Does she… always say that?"
"It's… more of a newer addition." Mona said after a moment.
"Alright, I think that's enough of this. Let's get moving." Joker interjected, getting nods from his teammates before he turned towards the depths. "Time to see what we're dealing with."
If there was one thing that could be seen as a silver lining to how Mementos was structured this time around, it was the fact it was a good place to train a thief's maneuverability.
Compared to the long empty train tracks of Tokyo's Mementos, when the team reached the floor below where they had found Lysithea's shadow, it shifted into something out of a freerunner's dream.
Long hallways that had numerous ways of traversing through them, with plenty of areas to hide in case a particularly powerful shadow showed up. It was a surprisingly effective teacher, especially for Rokuó and Mana, who both had started getting into the swing of things.
"Hey, I think we're getting close!" Mona said, running off a little ahead to the end of the corridor they were running down. The cat slowed to a stop, before turning back to the group with a sigh. "Well, we were anyway."
"What does that mean, Mona?" Rokuó asked as the other three thieves slowed to a stop next to him.
"Wait, what is that!?" Mana asked, pointing up at the door blocking their way.
"That. That is what I mean." Mona said, motioning to the door. "Welcome to the first roadblock Mementos throws at you."
"Roadblock?" Rokuó asked. "That's one way of looking at it."
"It's not a wall, it's a door." Joker said, looking up at it. "Unless you had enough presence in the public consciousness, you wouldn't be able to go past it."
"That said, they never looked much like this…" The thief continued, squinting at the blockade before them.
The door was strange, a seemingly weaved mesh of branch-like stone with symbols engraved over the front, one large one surrounded by a circle of smaller symbols.
Mana squinted at the symbols on the door, head tilted to the side in thought. "Wait… aren't those…" The White Haired Girl's eyes snapped open in realization. "Those are Crests!"
"Wait, what?" Joker asked, looking over at the girl.
"Hey, yeah that's right. See, in the top right corner, there's the Crest of Riegan." Rokuó says, motioning to the symbol on the top right that matches his own Crest.
"So what does this mean?" Mona asked, glancing up at the other thieves.
"Well, Crests are ingrained in our society." Lysithea began, muttering a "for better or worse" under her breath before continuing. "So, if this is a door that represents the collective unconscious of humanity…"
"It'd make sense that Crests would be present on it?" Joker supplied, eyes locked onto the larger symbol in the center.
Mona followed his eyeline and looked at the largest Crest, eyes widening in recognition. "Hey, what Crest is that one?"
Mana blinked, looking over to where Mona was pointing and blinked. "I'm… Not sure?"
"You don't know?" Joker asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not a crest scholar, I don't know what all of them look like." Mana defended herself with a sigh. "But I'm more confused why a crest we don't know about is… Well, that big and at the center of all the others."
Rokuó scratched the side of his head. "Yeah, I'm just as lost here unfortunately."
"Either way, not much we can do about it right now. So let's hurry up. I think we may be able to open the door." Mona said, looking back at the door.
"Right." Joker said, walking up and pressing his hand against it. The Crests engraved on it lit up suddenly, and the strange bark-like texture shifted and pulled away, revealing a passage further in. "Well, there we go then. Mona, how much deeper is she?"
"Well… It's strange." Mona said, getting the thieves' attention. "She's close, but there's a strange sensation surrounding her location."
"Is it like the palace thing you mentioned earlier?" Rokuó asked. "With Lysithea, she was on the verge of having one manifest. Is the feeling similar?"
"Not exactly." Mona said, shaking his head. "Anyways, no use debating it right now. We only have so much time tonight."
"Right, let's move." Joker said, leading the thieves further into Mementos.
(Play Last Surprise)
"Persona!"
Mana threw her arm out to the side, the last embers of her mask burning away with the motion as Nyx burst into existence in front of her. "Agi!" The white haired girl commanded, smiling wildly as her Persona charged the shadow before her.
Fire flashed out of Nyx's hand as the Persona thrust her arm towards the shadow. The blackened skin of the shadow rippled from the sudden impact of the flames, but kept moving towards the team.
"That didn't work!" Mana shouted, her mask reforming over her face.
"Robin!" Rokuó shouted, ripping his mask off as the tactician burst to life behind him. "Zio!"
Robin roared, lighting dancing in his palm as he threw the magic at one of the shadows. The lightning struck true, dancing across the shadow for a few moments before dissipating.
"Damm it!" Rokuó cursed, taking a step back for distance. "Stay down!"
"Why does Fódlan's cognition even have zombies!? Why is it a common enough thought to be this high up Mementos!?" Mona asked, jumping to the side as another zombie shadow swung at the feline with its arm. "Joker!"
"Trickster, allow me!"
"Very well." Joker said, sliding back from another shadow as he gripped his mask and pulled. "Angel!"
White wings extended outwards in a flash of blue as the angelic Persona manifested behind Joker. White cloth lined with gold patterning wrapped around the lower half of the persona, leaving the upper half of his body uncovered. "Kouha!"
Bless energy shot ahead, slamming into the first shadow and knocking it down with a flash of white. "As it should be." Angel said, crossing his arms confidently.
"That's one." Joker said, eyes snapping to the second shadow that was about to charge at Mana. "Once more!"
"Begone!" Angel cried out, launching another Kouha at the second shadow before quickly flicking his arm out to the third, firing off another bless attack on it as well.
"Nice, got them all down!" Mona said, pulling his slingshot out. "Quick, hold 'em up!"
Joker walked over to the group of downed shadows, nodding at the quick response from both Mana and Rokuó as the two surrounded the shadows with weapons drawn. Mana's throwing knives were a surprise, but she proved to be a natural with them.
How much of that was due to the Metaverse was still up for debate though.
Joker pointed Daredevil at the shadows with a flourish, looking over them with his third eye. Yellow auras, though with green tint.
(Play Talk)
The undead groaned out something, it wasn't exactly distinguishable, but it was something. "I take it you three understand me." Joker said, glancing over them as he deactivated his third eye.
One of the shadows nodded slowly, neck popping along with the action. The strange mask that it wore, the texture strangely resembled a beetle's, stared back at him. The two inky voids where its eyes presumably were locked onto the thief.
Joker narrowed his eyes. 'Yoshida, don't fail me now…' He thought to himself. "Join me."
The command rang out, and the shadow paused, going still as stone. Silence deafened the room, before a cracked voice emanated from the shadow.
"I… A-am Thou… Thou A-art I-I…" The shadow began, slowly rising with the popping of bones. "R-ri…sen…"
And as the name was spoken, the shadow flashed blue and changed into a mask, quickly flying towards and into Joker's.
The other two shadows quickly vanished, disappearing from sight as the four thieves took the moment to catch their breath.
(Play Mementos - Upper layer)
"Did… did it just say 'Risen'? It did, right?" Rokuó asked, looking up at Joker.
"That's it name. Why?" The thief asked, turning to the deer.
"I was doing some reading recently, about my Persona, or at least the myths he's based off of." Rokuó said, crossing his arms. "In retrospect, they fit the bill for those things."
"Well, that answers my question then…" Mona said with a sigh.
"Mona, how far until we reach her shadow?" Joker asked, turning to his partner.
"Close. I think. It's hard to tell." Mona said with a shrug.
"Sooner we find her, the better in my opinion." Rokuó said, stretching.
The thieves nodded, before taking off once more, running through the winding halls of Mementos. It didn't take much longer however, as Mona slid to a stop. "Uh oh."
"Are we here?" Mana asked, slowing to a stop as she looked to the right. "Um, is that normal?"
"Is what normal?" Rokuó asked, coming to a stop next to the white haired girl. "Ah, that. Joker!"
Joker placed his hands in his pockets as he walked over to the three, coming to a stop in front of the large jail cell door, surrounded by bars blocking off the hallway.
If not for the red glow the bars gave off, Joker might have thought it to be the Velvet Room, or at least the old one. The thief sucked in a breath of air and looked down at Mona. "Any ideas? This isn't like anything we dealt with before."
"Wait, it's not?" Mana asked, looking a little shocked.
"Unfortunately, it's not. It's not like Lysithea's pseudo Palace. It's… Whole in there." Mona said with narrowed eyes. "It feels similar to a fully formed Palace, but there doesn't seem to be anything separating it from Mementos."
"So… What does that mean?" Rokuó asked.
"It means this just got complicated, and we need to take this trip seriously. We're doing a quick check inside, trying to not grab any shadows' attention as we do so, then we're getting out." Joker said, looking back at the thieves. "We weren't planning on tackling something like this today, so we're doing the bare minimum for the first pass."
"Follow our lead, and we should be fine, even with any trouble we do happen to run into." Mona said.
"That's great and all, but how are we going to get in?" Rokuó asked, motioning to the cell. "The door is likely locked, and I didn't bring any lockpicks."
"Two things. One, since when could you pick locks?" Mana asked with a raised eyebrow. "Second, I think Joker already has that part down."
The white haired girl motioned to their leader, who had walked over to the jail cell. He glanced down at the keyhole on the door before shrugging as he pulled on the bars to the left.
The door screeched open, sliding to the left quickly as the thief pulled. Joker huffed out a laugh, letting go of the bars as he looked back to the other thieves. "Who said it was locked?"
"Likely, Joker." Rokuó said with a smile, shaking his head. "Right, are we checking this out or not?"
"Lead the way, Joker." Mona said, nodding to the thief.
Joker nodded, walking through the opening with his team.
(Play Welcome to the Jail)
"Woah!" Mana threw her arms in front of her, suddenly thrown off guard by the light hitting her face. "What the…"
"Are we outside?" Rokuó asked, looking around the area. "But, we were just underground."
"Welcome to the Metaverse. Stuff like this is nothing. Still…" Mona trailed off, looking up at the red skies above, dark clouds rolling across. "Good news, this area feels decently safe. Not a safe room, but we likely won't get any trouble from shadows here."
"...This is new." Joker said, looking down at his hands.
"What do you mean?" Rokuó asked.
"...The music, obviously, but it's more than just that." Joker continued, looking ahead at the large castle before them. It was similar in style to the architecture of some of the buildings surrounding Garreg Mach, but it was slightly dilapidated. "Mementos didn't branch out like this. Especially not like this…"
"So… What do we do then?" Mana asked, tilting her head slightly.
"We're here for a check. That's what we're doing. Come on, follow my lead." Joker said, walking forward.
The four moved, sneaking up towards the large doors of the fortress. "Not a chance we're going in through the front…" Joker muttered, before glancing over his shoulder as the rest of the Thieves. "Any of you see another way in?"
"Leave it to me." Rokuó said with a smirk, glancing up. "Not to brag, but I'm pretty good at getting into places I really shouldn't be."
Mana shook her head. "That really shouldn't be something to brag about."
"True! Hence why I said 'not to brag'." Rokuó reiterated.
"Guys. Entrance?" Mona asked, looking up at the two.
"Hm… There. See that opening?" Rokuó began, pointing up at a hole in the wall on the second floor. He grimaced a little at the planks boarding it up. "Well, if we make it an opening, we should be able to get in."
"Okay, good plan, but how do we get up there?" Mana asked.
"Weren't you paying attention to the mock battle earlier?" Mona asked, shaking his head before he held out two contraptions. "Here, try these on Newbies."
"Hm? What's this?" Mana asked, taking one of them with a raised eyebrow.
"Wait, this is the thing you used on us during the mock battle!" Rokuó said, looking over at a slightly smug looking Joker. "That's great. How do I use it?"
"Let me show you. Mona, you able to help Mana get her's set up?" Joker asked.
"Yeah, can do." Mona nodded, walking over to the witch as Joker rolled up the sleeve of Rokuó's coat.
"Okay, so two things. First, these won't work in reality. We don't have the necessary materials to make another of these, and honestly I'm scared of what you'd get up to in reality if you did have this." Joker began, giving a pointed look at Rokuó as he attached the grapple to his arm.
"You wound me." Rokuó said with a smirk.
"Second, it's going to need a bit of momentum to get it working. I normally spin first to pull in momentum like that. Think of it like you're throwing a line out from a fishing rod. Know what your target is, aim, and the metaverse should handle the rest of the specifics." Joker finished, stepping back once he hid the device under the Deer's sleeve. "Mana, you got yours ready?"
"Yeah, I believe so." She said with a nod.
"Okay, I'm going to head up and open the way, once I do, follow after." Joker said, before spinning quickly in place to build momentum. He swung his arm out, grapple flying true as it latched onto the side of the building. He smirked as the gadget began to reel in, rapidly ascending him up to the barricaded opening.
Joker narrowed his eyes, pulling out Paradise Lost as he grabbed one of the boards and tugged, the wood creaking with the force but quickly breaking off of the wall. Joker blinked, unceremoniously dropping the board with a shrug, the wood careening down to the ground, lading with a light thud.
"Joker…!" Mona narrowed his eyes up at the thief.
"What was I supposed to do with it? There's no room up here to do any of that?" Joker called back. "Barely have enough room to stand right now."
"Just get the way open, please." Mona sighed.
"Already on it." The teen replied, rolling his neck as he grabbed another board and tugged, pulling off the other remaining board along with it. "Huh, there we go."
The thief tossed them to the side and looked in through the hole. "I'm heading in. Grapple up to the hole, it'll be easier to get in than trying for this ledge like I did."
"Got it!" Rokuó called back, getting a smirk from Joker as the thief leaped in through the hole.
(Stop Music)
Joker landed in a crouch, looking up around the room. "Spacious…" He muttered, standing up and walking a few steps forward in the spacious room. It was bare, roughly half the size of a ballroom, with the only thing breaking up the brick that lined the walls, floor and ceiling being the old chandelier that was barely providing light, and the door on the opposite wall.
"Okay…" Joker said slowly, glancing around, shoulders tensed.
"Okay, that was… new." Mana said, stumbling into the room through the window as she walked up to Joker.
"You get used to it." Joker said, eyes still scanning the room.
"Hey, not bad you two." Mona said, coming into the room on Rokuó's shoulder. "Decent first try."
"Thanks." The deer replied, glancing over at Joker. "Hey, everything good Leader? You look tense?"
"Something's not right." Joker said finally, eyes narrowing. "Stay on guard."
Rokuó immediately tensed up, glancing around the room. "Yeah, I get what you mean now." He said, narrowing his eyes.
"Ah!" Mana gasped, taking a step back as 4 shadows burst to life at the side of the room. Joker turned and looked, taking in the sight of the masked shadows that resembled the bandits that had attacked Remire before it all went weird.
"Shit!" Joker said, narrowing his eyes as he pulled out Paradise Lost. "Guys, be careful!"
"We have more of them!" Rokuó shouted, grabbing the thieves' attention as more shadows formed on the other side of the room.
"There's so many!" Mana said, blinking in shock.
"Joker!" Mona shouted in concern, sword drawn. "We're surrounded!"
Joker looked ahead at the crowd, counting roughly 14 of the shadow bandits. He activated his third eye, before pausing at the green hue glowing off of each of them. "They're weak, we can fight out of this!" He said, reaching for his mask.
As if hearing that the shadows rippled, bursting open and shifting, as each bandit spawned two or three shadows from their transformation.
"More of them!" Mana shouted, pulling out her melee weapon, a quarterstaff that looked customized in the same style of her garb, one of the ends a striking gold that gave the rough image of a magic staff.
"We can do this guys!" Joker said, ripping his mask off with a smirk. "It's showtime!"
(Play Normal Battle - Refine Version)
The white domino mask ripped free, azure flames dancing across Joker's palm as he threw his arm to the side. "Arsene!" He proclaimed, his Persona bursting to life behind him. "Ravage them!"
"Eiha!" The gentleman thief shouted, throwing his arm onto the ground, a much larger explosion of curse magic bursting forth underneath a large group of the shadows.
"Huh?" Joker blinked in confusion at the sudden increase in the spell's area of effect, before shaking his head as he rushed in. "Don't let up for a second!"
The thief slid to the side, ducking under a surge of ice magic from one of the enemy sprites. He kicked off the ground, throwing himself right into their faces as he swung, his stance adjusted to catch more shadows in his strikes.
Paradise Lost swung free, easily cleaving through the shadows like butter as the thief pushed back the group that had focused on him. He reached up to his mask and pulled it off, Arsene once more answering his call. "Cleave!"
"With pleasure!" The persona roared, swinging wide with his arm as the strike caught the slightly dazed group of shadows. The attack sliced through the shadows, their bodies bursting open and dissolving with quick order.
"Mona, status!" Joker called, ducking to the side as another shadow threw itself at him.
"We're holding!" The cat replied as he pulled out his slingshot, rapidly firing into the crowd of shadows before him. "Come, Mercurius!"
Mona posed with a smirk, his Persona flipping once before launching out a blast of air at the shadows charging them. "Garu!"
"Why are there so many of them!?" Mana asked, the witch quickly spinning her quarterstaff around her as she bashed in the faces of numerous shadows. She spun once, rearing back before slamming said staff into the face of a panser, the teddy bear disintegrating on contact. "There is an end to these things, right?"
"There should be!" Mona replied, swinging his scimitar at another shadow as he looked to Rokuó. "Behind you!"
"Thanks!" Rokuó shouted, parrying the surprise strike from a Panser with his sword before shooting a Sprite with the hand crossbow in his off hand. He grit his teeth, putting his ranged weapon away as he ripped his mask off. "Robin!"
"Zio!" The tactician said, holding his tome up for a moment before flicking his arm down towards the shadows before Rokuó. The lighting magic coursed through the group before quickly turning them to dust.
"We just need to thin them out more!" Rokuó called out to the other thieves, rolling to the side as he avoided another strike from one of the shadows. "That said, I'm open to ideas!"
Joker paused, glancing up at the ceiling where the lone chandelier hung in the air. A smile fell on his face as he jumped and bounced off the head of a Panser to flip to the other side of the group of shadows. "Everyone, focus them to the center of the room!"
"Huh? Why?" Mana asked, sparing a glance over her shoulder as Nyx blasted a group of shadows with fire.
"No time, just follow his plan!" Mona interrupted, sliding to the side as he got to work.
Mana nodded, jumping into the air towards Nyx as her persona swung her over to the other side of the shadows. The white haired girl flipped in the air, throwing her arm out as she tossed a few throwing knives at the shadows below.
The witch landed into a crouch, her mask forming over her face as she rushed forwards, swinging her quarterstaff almost like a bat as she slammed one of the shadows into the others. The shadows all slid back like a bunch of bowling pins, coming to a stop next to the other shadows that had been rounded up.
"Now, Joker!" Mona shouted.
"Everyone get clear!" Joker shouted, his mask flashing blue for a moment as he jumped into the air and pulled it off. "Succubus!"
The Persona burst to life below the thief, the fair skinned demon clothed in an attire that may have passed for modest in Tokyo, before she raised her arms up and pushed against the bottom of Joker's feet, launching him higher into the air.
As Joker's mask formed back around him, he flipped and swung at the rope holding the chandelier up. Paradise Lost cut clean through, sending the display piece crashing down towards the ground, and the group of shadows below.
The thief leapt off the fixture at the last moment, flipping once in the air as he landed in a crouch, a cloud of dust kicking up in the air behind him as the chandelier slammed into the shadows.
(Stop Music)
Joker stood up, turning around to look at the broken lighting fixture. "Well, think we got them all?"
"The music stopped, right?" Mana asked.
"I don't see any more, so I think we're clear, Joker." Rokuó said after a quick glance around the room.
"Good. Everyone holding up?" The thief asked, looking back at his teammates.
"I'm a little winded, but it's nothing I'm not used to. We've done palace runs worse than this on less energy." Mona said with a nod.
"I'm good. There were a lot of shadows, but it wasn't as taxing fighting them as it normally would be." Rokuó noted, putting a hand to his chin.
"I noticed that too." Mana said, turning to look at Joker. "I don't know for certain, but because there are so many coming at once, do you think it might be compensating?"
"Compensating?" Joker asked, raising an eyebrow.
"As an example, say you cast a spell. That spell can be highly concentrated, or spread out depending on how you cast it. If the energy output is the same both ways, then wouldn't it make sense the input would be as well?" Mana theorized, crossing her arms. "It may be the same here with this… place."
"That may explain it, but we can't be sure. Shadows are… weird." Mona said after a moment.
"Either way, I think we can chalk this up as another of the Metaverse's quirks." Rokuó said with a shrug. "Not like we'll ever know for certain."
"Right. Let's find a safe room. I think whatever cursory glance we had planned today is not happening anymore." Joker said as he walked over to the door at the end of the room. "Remember, stealth."
"I think we'll both be fine." Rokuó said with a nod as Joker slowly swung the door open.
(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)
The thieves walked out of the door, coming to a stop in front of the second floor railing. Joker glanced over the edge, looking down at what looked to be the entrance hall. The hall was filled with what looked to be random jail cells, all empty, as the shadow bandits walked around the floor. The surrounding architecture twisted and seemingly melted into itself, and the light fixtures hanging above lightly swayed, rust forming over some of their connections..
"Well, that's a pleasant sight." Rokuó remarked, glancing over the side as well.
"What's with all the jail cells though?" Mona asked, raising an eyebrow.
Joker narrowed his eyes, before glancing at the other thieves. "Gonna try something. Be right back."
"Wait, what do you mean by-" Mana began before taking a step back as Joker grabbed the railing and flipped over it, letting himself drop down towards the ground floor. "Wha-!?"
"Joker!" Mona hissed out, looking over as the thief threw his grappled line up back towards them, the hook wrapping around the railing as he descended.
The thief hung in the air above a group of three, melding into the shadows as he looked down at the bandit themed shadows. "Can't believe he thought this was a good idea." One of the bandits said, shaking their head as they leaned against one of the empty cages. "We're already on thin ice as it is, and he thinks this is the best place to hide out?"
"I hear you. You think it's bad for us, imagine how things are for the boss." Another shadow said.
The third shadow sighed. "If you ask me, Kostas has bitten off more than he can chew, dragging all of us with him. We already screwed up the job with those kids, and now with the prisoner here-"
"As long as that masked weirdo doesn't come back and have that crazy bitch kick us out, we should be fine." The second shadow cut in, shrugging. "I'm more concerned Kostas will do something himself that'll get us killed. The church is likely hunting us down as we speak, lying low here is preferable to that."
The other two shadows nodded. "Here, here."
Joker pursed his lips, before retracting his grapple as he shot back up to the railing, flipping over into a crouch as he landed on the second floor with his teammates. "Well, good news. Maybe?"
"I take it you were eavesdropping?" Mona asked, getting a nod from the teen. "Alright, what did you hear?"
"I think they're the bandits we ran into in Remire." Joker said, looking over at Rokuó specifically. "They mentioned the job that they failed, and that the Church was likely searching for them."
"Seriously? What are the odds of that?" Rokuó asked.
"Was there anything else they mentioned?" Mana asked, adjusting her witch hat atop her head.
Joker paused, placing a hand to his chin. "They mentioned a few things. Kostas, who I assume is the bandit leader Byleth and I ran into, a masked weirdo who might be running this whole thing, and a 'crazy bitch' who likely works with them… And then there's the mention of a prisoner."
"Prisoner?" Mona asked, tilting his head.
"The guy talking about them was cut off, but whoever it is sounds important." Joker said with a shrug.
"Think it could be our target?" Mana asked.
"Could be, but we can't be certain. For all we know, Monica could be the 'crazy bitch' that they're referring to." Joker said.
Rokuó sighed. "Either way, it's not enough information to make assumptions with. All we know is that there's a lot more going on than what we initially thought."
"He's right. Besides, I think there's a safe room nearby." Mona said, motioning to the set of doors a few feet down the second floor.
"Oh thank Seiros…" Mana muttered with a groan. "After all this, I'm exhausted."
"If we're lucky, with the safe room marked we shouldn't need to worry about climbing through all that next time we come down." Joker said, starting to walk towards the safe room. "Come on."
The team pushed the doors to the safe room open, revealing a small room with a table and a few chairs. "There we go." Joker said with a smirk as the thieves piled on in. "Alright, let's just make sure the nav can register this…"
There was a quick beep from Joker's phone as he pulled it out, the screen displaying the metanav with the safe room marked down. "Yep, there it is."
"I've been meaning to ask, what exactly is that?" Mana asked, walking up to take a better look at the smartphone. "I know you use it to access the Metaverse, but not much else."
"Ah, yeah." Joker nodded, taking a seat on the table as he adjusted his hold on his phone. "This is my phone. Back home things are a bit… more technologically advanced than it is here."
"Okay, what do you mean by technologically advanced?" Rokuó asked, crossing his arms. "By how much?"
"There was an old saying, that any technology advanced enough could be mistaken for magic." Joker began, glancing over at the two. "The kinds of tech we have at our disposal back home would no doubt be considered witchcraft here. My phone is one such example."
"What? How?" Mana asked, eyes wide.
"How is it that we're more advanced than you guys or how my phone is such a thing?" Joker asked.
"Yes! To both!" Mana replied.
"Our home is pretty distant from yours. We've established before that we never heard of Fódlan before we arrived, but the same holds true for Japan." Mona said. "Because of that, is it any real surprise things are more advanced there than here?"
"A little, but moving past that. You can't tease us with what that thing can do and then not show us." Rokuó said with a raised eyebrow.
"I would, but the Metaverse messes with a lot of said features. And because of the fact we're here in Fódlan, a lot of other things aren't available to me." Joker replied with a shrug.
"Like…?" Rokuó trailed off.
"Look, let's get back to Leblanc, and then I'll explain what it is this thing can do. Alright?" Joker asked, navigating through the metanav to get to the fast travel section.
"You're killing me here, Sensei." Rokuó said with a smirk.
"Alright, save the questions for later, let's get home!"
(Stop Music)
[You Have Returned To The Real World. Welcome Back.]
"Okay, we're back." Claude said, sitting down on one of the bar stools. "How about telling us about it now."
"You're insatiable, you know that?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep." The leader of the Golden Deer smirked, leaning forward.
Lysithea sighed, sitting on the stool next to Claude's. "So, the… phone?"
"Right." Ren said, pulling the phone out. "This is a smartphone, meaning that it can do a lot of the things a normal phone can do alongside a lot more."
"For example, if I was able to, I could connect this phone to another and talk with the person on the other side, no matter where they were." Ren began, earning wide eyes from the two. "Of course Fódlan notwithstanding."
"You think that's impressive? That's the basic stuff a normal phone can do." Mona said with a chuckle. "There's the internet, which for the sake of simplicity, think of it like a giant library of information that could basically be accessed anywhere."
"Of which I also don't have access to." Ren said before shrugging at the light groan of disappointment that came from Lysithea. "That said, there's other things as well. I can take photos and record, store, and play back audio recordings."
"Photos?" Lysithea asked.
Ren simply smirked, holding the back of the phone up towards the two. "Say cheese."
"Huh?" Claude asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Cheese?" Lysithea followed soon after, a slightly confused look on her face.
Ren simply pressed down on the screen, taking a photo of the two as the flash went off, blinding them for a single moment.
"Gah! What was that?" Claude asked, reeling back from the flash of white.
"The flash." Ren said with a smirk.
"The what?" Lysithea asked, blinking rapidly to get the spots out of her vision.
"The camera flash." Ren continued. "So that the photo is well lit."
"Seriously though, no warning, Sensei?" Claude asked with a sweatdrop.
"I thought you guys could take it." Ren said with a shrug.
"Maybe now would be a good time to show them the photo?" Morgana cut in, looking unamused.
"Fine, fine…" Ren chuckled, pressing the gallery icon on his phone before flipping it around to show the two the screen. "Voila! I give you your first photograph."
The two students blinked owlishly at the screen, staring at the photo in bewilderment. Claude's eyes were slightly lidded, the photo catching him mid blink, while Lysithea's face was stuck in a nervous smile, an eyebrow raised high in confusion.
"...Pfft!" Lysithea clamped a hand over her mouth as she looked at the photo. "You look so goofy!"
"Hey! You're on to talk, you look like you're being held at swordpoint!" Claude remarked with a snort.
"Yes, yes, you're both pretty." Morgana said with a chuckle. "So, aside from that, any thoughts?"
"It's amazing!" Lysithea said, eyes practically sparkling. "How does it take these… photos, exactly?"
"Well, it's complicated. What I have here is WAY more high tech than a lot of the older cameras that could theoretically be achieved now, but I can give the basic understanding." Ren said before placing his phone down. "So, I assume both of you understand how it is that we as people see, yes?"
"Wait, what?" Claude blinked, looking confused. "What does this have to do with taking photos?"
"Okay, I'll just explain from the top for ease of understanding…" Ren sighed before shaking his head. "We see objects around us due to light. There's some specifics to it that's probably a bit too complicated to go over, so I'll be blunt and say that light reflects off everything. When that light reflects off an object, it travels and that reflection can be picked up by our eyes. That's how we see."
Ren lightly shrugged, loosely holding his phone in his right hand. "A camera basically applies that same idea to take a photo. When the light reflects off an object, or multiple, it hits the lens, a piece of glass that focuses the incoming reflection into the camera. Of course, if that was happening all the time, you'd never get a clear photo, which is what the shutter is for."
"Think of the shutter like eyelids for the camera." Ren continued, motioning to his eye. "If you look at the sun for too long, you get spots in your vision. Well, a camera is a lot more sensitive, so when you're dealing with photos, having a reflection enter the camera for long stretches of time will likely not make a great photo."
"Are you both following me?" Ren asked after a moment. He smiled at the nods from the two students, both seemingly enraptured by the explanation. "Alright, so in most cases we have a button that opens the shutter for the tiniest of moments. During that time, the light is sent into the camera and hits whatever is recording the photo. For older cameras, we used film, which is a different thing I can't really explain off the top of my head. The image would burn onto the film, or some other kind of reaction to get the image, and then the film would need to be developed later to get the photos."
"Developed?" Lysithea asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A process that I can't really explain at the moment. Anyways, that's the… basic understanding of how a camera works. Of course, since the camera in my phone is digital, don't ask about the differences please, I can get a photo back almost instantly." Ren said before sighing. "Alright, that should cover the photo. Anything else?"
"Do you have any other photos on there?" Claude asked.
"Hm?" Ren tilted his head, before nodding. He swiped to the left, switching over to a photo he had taken back in Tokyo. "Take a look."
"Huh… Wait, where have I…?" Claude paused, before glancing over at the painting hanging up on the wall. "That painting."
"Based off of the photo. I had a friend who was able to do that without any questions." Ren said with a smile as the two students looked back at the photo.
"Who are they?" Lysithea asked, looking down at the people in the photo. "You guys seem… happy."
"Those are the original Phantom Thieves." Ren said, getting surprised looks from the two. Morgana walked over and placed a paw on Ren's right hand, getting a light smile from the teen in return. "Skull, Panther, Fox, Queen, Oracle, and Noir. There's Morgana and I, and that's Boss behind the counter."
"Boss?" Claude parroted, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you were the leader?"
"Oh, no he is. Boss isn't a member, he just runs the café we used as our hideout." Morgana said. "We call him Boss because of that."
"I see. So these are our seniors, huh?" Lysithea noted. "They're… our age."
"Yeah, even one as young as you." Claude noted, pointing at Futaba.
"Hey…" Lysithea began, eyes narrowing in anger before pausing as she looked back to see Ren's face.
The thief had a wistful look on his face, his eyes not fully focused on the two as if he was staring off into space. "Sensei?" Lysithea asked, seemingly snapping him out of whatever he was thinking about as he blinked and shook his head.
"Sorry. I was just… reminiscing." The teen said.
Claude took another look at the thief before frowning slightly. "...You think you'll never see them again."
Lysithea's eyes shot open, turning to look at Claude in shock before quickly shifting focus to Ren, who was wearing a similar expression.
"...How did you know?" Morgana asked after a moment of silence.
"Context clues mostly." Claude said with a shrug. "You have that expression one gets when discussing someone who's died, but you use present tense whenever you talk about them, which means they aren't dead. Add into the fact that when Morgana showed up you started feeling more… happy? It wasn't easy, but the ideas filled in enough."
"...We had one last mission." Ren began with a sigh. "We succeeded, but something went wrong. The next thing I know, I was separated from my friends. I know they're fine, thanks to the residents of the Velvet Room, but I don't know if I'll ever see them again."
"...I can't promise something out of my control, but I can say that we're here for you if you ever need it, Sensei." Claude said with a smile, Lysithea nodding along with him.
"Thanks guys." Ren said, before shaking his head. "Alright, enough of that. It's late enough and you guys have class tomorrow."
"Don't remind me." Claude said with a sigh.
"Too bad, I'm pretty sure you guys have my class as well so I'll be expecting you two to be taking this information much more seriously." Ren said, earning confused looks from the two. "If you both seriously think I wouldn't use this opportunity to teach you more skills that'll help in the Metaverse, then you're not prepared for these classes."
"Ren, has anyone ever told you you're scary?" Lysithea asked.
Ren snorted. "If you think I'm scary, you should've seen my female teammates. I can be plenty scary, but them? Terrifying if you piss them off."
"Alright, alright. Get going! It's time for sleep, all of you!" Morgana said, butting his head against Lysithea's arm.
"Alright, alright." Lysithea said with a smile, getting off the stool. "I suppose we'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah. See you then." Ren said with a nod, watching as the two stepped out of the cafe. Ren nodded to himself, walking over to the door and locking it before stretching, a yawn breaking out of him with the action.
"Hey, Joker." Ren paused, turning to look at Morgana. "...Today, in the Jail."
"Jail?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean, we went in through a jail cell, and they kept referring to a 'prisoner'. I think it's apt." Morgana said before shaking his head. "Anyways, we need to talk about what it means."
"In what way?" Ren asked, taking a seat on one of the stools.
Morgana paused, sitting down on the counter. "Well, why did such a place form?" The cat asked, glancing to the side. "If it was a Palace, we'd know it was due to distorted desires, but it wasn't. The place was filled with shadows, most of them looked like bandits before they fought us. Do you have any idea why such a place would be created?"
"...No, none come to mind." Ren said after a moment of silence. "But, I'm more concerned about the fact it was still tied to Mementos. You said it felt like it should be able to be separated from it?"
"Yeah, it was just… missing something that would've caused it to segment off." Mona said with a nod. "Not sure what that'd be though."
"...Well, let's just hope we find out when we head in next." Ren said with a sigh, slipping off the stool. "Come on, we should go head to bed."
"Right. Night, Ren."
"Night, Morgana."
Weekly Schedule
Monday:
8:55 AM - 12:30 PM
(Personal Instruction)
12:35 PM - 1:25 PM
(Break)
1:30 PM - 4:10 PM
("The Box" - Black Eagles (Bi-Weekly))
("Mercenary Studies - Black Eagles (Bi-Weekly))
(Crestology - Blue Lions)
(Medical Practices for Combat - Golden Deer)
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
(Chores)
Tuesday:
8:55 AM - 11:35 AM
(History)
11:40 AM - 1:25 PM
(Free Time)
1:30 PM - 4:10 PM
("The Box" - Golden Deer (Bi-Weekly))
(Mercenary Studies - Golden Deer (Bi-Weekly))
(Crestology - Black Eagles)
(Medical Practices for Combat - Blue Lions)
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
(Chores)
Wednesday:
8:55 AM - 11:35 AM
(Math)
11:40 AM - 1:25 PM
(Free Time)
1:30 PM - 4:10 PM
("The Box" - Blue Lions (Bi-Weekly))
(Mercenary Studies - Blue Lions (Bi-Weekly))
(Crestology - Golden Deer)
(Medical Practices for Combat - Black Eagles)
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
(Chores)
Thursday:
8:55 AM - 11:35 AM
(Combat Theory)
11:30 AM - 1:25 PM
(Free Time)
1:30 PM - 4:10 PM
(Battle Theory)
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
(Chores)
Friday:
8:55 AM - 11:35 AM
(Geography)
11:40 AM - 1:25 PM
(Free Time)
1:30 PM - 4:10 PM
(Free Period)
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
(Chores)
Saturday:
8:55 AM - 11: 35 AM
(Free Period)
11:40 AM - 1:25 PM
(Free Time)
1:30 PM - 4:10 PM
(Free Period)
4:15 PM - 5:05 PM
(Chores)
Sunday:
Day Off