(Author's Note)

So... It's been a while, huh?

Chapter 18 was SUPPOSED to be out a lot sooner than it was, unfortunately, that didn't pan out. The main issue was the fact that there was some personal stuff in real life going on regarding trying to get a summer job so I could pay for my next (and my last) year of my College Program. Long story short, I was running myself ragged trying to get something, and didn't even get an interview. I'm lucky that things somehow lined up in such a way that took a LOT of the stress off my back, and once that happened, finding the motivation and time to write got a little bit easier.

Of course, now that I'm hopefully past that, I really hope that it won't take me months to get the next chapter out. If I can somehow pull it off, I want to get you guys the next chapter by early September. Don't hold me to that though, because as I've experienced plenty of times by now, life likes to throw you into the center of a shit storm with no warning.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who left a review! They really help with my motivation so if you feel like it when you finish the chapter, I'd really appreciate it if you left a review. If you have a question, leave it there and I'll try to respond to it at the start of the next chapter assuming it's something relevant to the story I can answer.

With all that out of the way, let's get on with the story!

Ren walked down the halls of the monastery, passing by the various workers going about their duties. He was cutting this close, admittedly, but the timing would hopefully be to his benefit.

The teen turned and stopped in front of the doors of Manuela's office, or more accurately, the med bay for the Officers Academy. Ren adjusted the hold his right hand had on his bag, before knocking on the doors with his left twice. "Professor Manuela, are you in?"

"I am, feel free to come in!" Manuela's voice echoed from the other side of the door. Ren smirked, letting some of the tension fade from his shoulders before he schooled his expression into a neutral one as he pushed the doors open, walking into the office.

Manuela was hunched over her desk slightly, glancing over some paperwork from the looks of it. Her eyes peered up at Ren, a smile growing on her face as she did so. "Well, if it isn't the talk of the monastery." She said, straightening her posture as Ren came to a stop just in front of the doors. "What brings you to my office? Are you injured or are you here to see little old me?"

Ren shrugged, an easy smile on his face. "More of the second." He said, getting a raised eyebrow from Manuela. "Nothing untoward, but I was interested in your skillset as a physician."

"Well, at least you're not stringing me along…" Manuela noted. "All right, how have I caught your eye?"

Ren glanced back at the doors before turning to Manuela. The physician narrowed her eyes at the thief but nodded slowly. Ren turned around, closing the doors quietly before he pulled his bag off his shoulder. "As I'm sure it's no surprise, I'm not exactly from around here." Ren began, turning back to face Manuela, who laughed lightly at the thief's words. "And that's the main reason why I'm here. Back home, I had a friend who was a physician that could supply these kinds of things. But seeing as I'm not there, I want to know if you'd be able to replicate or reverse engineer some of the medications that I have from back home."

"Well, it's certainly a skill I am proficient in." Manuela began slowly. "Although I'm unsure as to how compatible your… medicines might be to my knowledge."

Ren took a breath. 'Moment of truth.' The thief thought to himself, reaching into his bag as he pulled out an assortment of items. Various pill bottles that were starting to get empty, some ointments, and other such items. Each of them relocated from their previous packaging into something that wouldn't draw as many eyes. They were also all labeled with numbers, ranging from 1 and up.

Manuela looked down at the items and simply stared for a moment, her eyes traveling fast across each one as she scanned them. "Well…" She began, looking back up at Ren. "You've certainly got a lot to work with. I still don't know what they all do, however."

Ren glanced down at the items laid out before him. He pointed to one of them, a bottle of pills that had maybe 4 left inside. "Energy supplements. Helpful if you need a boost of energy or the strength to pull an all nighter studying."

The thief glanced up, locking eyes with Manuela as she fixed him a deadpan look. "...Look, finals were stressful and I liked seeing my name at the top of the results." Ren replied, equally as deadpanned before returning to the items. "This is to help with muscle fatigue. The ointment helps relax the muscles in such a way that you won't feel much of the pain of a pulled muscle. This is an ointment for burns and other such afflictions. And those are like the first pills, only stronger and more helpful for when you need to wake up."

It wasn't the full picture, as the most uses he got out of all that was definitely in the Metaverse, but there were times he did make use of the proper intentions when he needed them. Either way, it was what needed to be explained, so explain he would.

"Fascinating." Manuela said slowly, nodding her head. "It would possibly take a bit of experimenting, but I think it's all something I could theoretically replicate."

Manuela glanced down at the items on her desk. "You mentioned you knew a physician?" She asked, looking back up at the teen.

"Yeah. Takemi-Sensei." Ren said with a smile on his face. "She was a doctor that ran a clinic near where I lived. I needed some medicine to help with my… well, extracurricular activities, and she was who I went to."

"Sensei? Isn't that what your students are calling you? So she was a teacher as well?" Manuela asked, crossing her arms.

"Not exactly. Sensei is used for numerous jobs, such as for teachers like us, as well as for doctors as an example." Ren explained. "I wouldn't say I learned about medicine from her, but I helped out with her medicinal trials when I was able to."

"Trials? You were a subject for a new kind of medicine she was creating?" Manuela blinked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. I admittedly spent a fair amount of said trials unconscious, but never injured or harmed. In the end, she was even able to complete it." Ren said with a nod. "But as much as I'd like to talk about the past, I would rather we discuss the present."

"Well, you've certainly given me a lot to think about." Manuela replied with a smirk. "Hm… How about this. I can tell right away that whatever it is your doctor has done is leaps and bounds ahead of myself. It would take time to properly synthesize and recreate what you've shown me today, unless I had someone to help me with that."

Ren raised an eyebrow, keeping his expression curious as he looked at the physician. "What are you suggesting then?"

"Well, you're familiar with the practice already, and this is on your request, so why not give me a hand and help me test these out?" Manuela said, raising an eyebrow. "It would likely speed up the process, especially since you're aware of what they're supposed to feel and react like."

Ren nodded to himself, glancing back at the table before looking back up at Manuela with a nod. "Well, I see no issue with that." He said with a smirk, holding out a hand. "We have a deal then?"

"I believe we do." Manuela replied, clasping her hand with his as the two shook hands.

'And with that, I call check.' Ren thought to himself, grinning internally as his vision once again went dark.

I am Thou, Thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Devil Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

{RANK UP!}

Chains shot out, spreading out across Ren's vision before shattering as a blue arcana card descended before him. Time quickly resumed as the card faded from sight, and the two let their handshake finish.

"Well, first things first, I need a place to store these out of sight." Manuela said, looking back down at the items in question. "Better that way, don't want someone doing something stupid without warning."

"Before that, you might want to put this with all that." Ren said, pulling out a slip of paper. "I did the best I could, but it might not be perfect. On that list is segmented ingredient lists for each item, the number of each matches the container. I don't know if you'll have all of the items, or if you'll know some of them, but it's a start, right?"

"Oh, you are just full of surprises, aren't you?" Manuela said with a smile, taking the list from the teen before placing it down over top of one of the pill bottles. "I'll take things from here. Feel free to come see me when we both have a free moment. I look forward to seeing where this goes."

"You and me both." Ren said, before pausing. "Actually, I did have a question. Do you know what you're doing for your free periods tomorrow? Byleth and I were discussing what we could do and I figured I'd ask what you decided upon?"

"Hm… Well, unlike Hanneman, I think with how early into the year it is that the students might as well use the time as they see fit." Manuela said with a light shrug before turning away with the various medicines in hand. "That said, there's definitely plenty of reasons to do things differently. There is this month's mission coming up."

"Well, you're right about that. Hope you have a good night, Manuela." Ren said with a smirk, before he turned around and walked out the front doors.

The doors to Manuela's office closed behind him softly, and the thief let out a breath in relief as they did. 'That could've gone so badly…'

"They could have, but you did it all the same." Angel noted in his head. "None of us doubted you'd pull through."

"I still think he should've led her on just a little bit." Succubus bemoaned slightly.

"And that is why we kept our chatter silent. None of us here are of the Devil Arcana, as much as you make it seem otherwise…" Panser groaned out.

"I am one of the Moon, a fact that's obvious if you look at min-"

"Cease that train of thought at once!"

'Guys, not the time.' Ren rolled his eyes, walking down the hallway towards the stairs. 'We still need to see if Morgana found anything out during his earlier searching.'

"I know you explained why before, but is it a good idea to reveal yourself this early?" Sprite asked. "I'm all for a grand debut, but this could bite us in the ass as well."

"Amazing, she does have a semblance of intelligence…" Panser said in mock awe.

"I will fight you, Panser. Don't tempt me."

'We can't afford to be roadblocked so early in. And even if we do figure out what's going on with Monica, a calling card won't do anything for the public as things stand.' Ren repeated again, both as a reminder to Sprite and himself. 'If we can get one target that we can change the heart of, as long as it's big, we'll be set to use calling cards in less traditional methods to boost our notoriety. But the first HAS to result in a change of heart.'

"I know, I know." Sprite sighed. "Just the nerves I guess."

"You get used to it." Arsene spoke up, getting a grunt of acknowledgement from Ren, the sudden spike of Willpower adding a bit to the teen's exhaustion.

'Either way, it won't matter if Morgana can't find anything out.' Ren replied with a shrug as he began walking down the stairs. 'We just have to trust he'll pull through. Luckily for us, if he does, the others will be available to help as well.'

"Louis Vanguar."

Ren glanced over at Morgana, eyebrow raised at the cat standing on the counter. "No welcome home?" The thief jokingly asked before narrowing his eyes slightly. "Who is he?"

"The merchant in charge of the marketplace. He's in charge of who can do what there. Can't have a stall without his approval, apparently." Morgana noted.

"What about Anna? Is she subject to this as well?" Ren asked.

"Not sure. Not a lot of talk about her, which isn't much of a surprise, she is a secret seller for a reason. But if I had to guess, she's likely a gray area." Morgan said. "As for our guy, he's a bit easier to get information on. I've heard rumors that there were a few different merchants that had traveled all this way to set up shop, but were denied access for random reasons. Some were sent off because their products apparently had illegal supplies mixed in, other cases are pretty cut and dry racism. There was one merchant that was turned away simply because they had a foreigner hired to help them unpack!"

Ren grit his teeth, arms crossing and clenching against the fabric of his shirt. "There were even rumors that he may be dealing under the table with some less than favorable sources, but there wasn't a lot to those rumors. I heard it pop up maybe three times."

"Once is a guess, two is a coincidence, three might have some merit." Ren noted idly as he looked at Morgana. "You think he'll have something we can work with? We're not exactly in a position to tackle a full blown palace just yet."

"Only one way to find out, right?" Morgana replied with a pointed look.

"Right." Ren nodded, pulling out his phone as he loaded up the Nav. "Louis Vangaur, Mementos."

[Candidate Found]

The two thieves glanced at the other. "Well, I think that answers that…" Ren noted with a sigh.

[Day 9 of the Harpstring Moon, 1180]

Ren leaned up against the wall of the marketplace, idly watching as merchants went about their stalls, putting up items and talking with eager customers. The teen glanced to his left, watching as Anna leaned against the seemingly empty stall behind her. She too was looking out at the crowds of people populating the marketplace, but her gaze was much more sharp, almost directed at something or someone Ren hadn't been able to pick out yet.

Sure, he could just use his third eye, but this was good practice, and he was rather prideful of his situational awareness. Using his third eye wouldn't help improve his capabilities, it'd just let him cheat, and that would only do so much in the end.

He glanced back out at the crowds, catching sight of one merchant in particular, their dark skin vividly highlighting them compared to the others within the market. Ren wasn't focusing much on him however, as his eyes were looking over at the group walking over to him.

Four individuals, three wearing various armored plates while the one at the front of the group had none. Fine clothing, a cravat that was puffed up and exaggerated to a point past practicality, and long brown hair pulled together into a ponytail. 'Louis Vangaur, I presume.'

"This is not going to end well." Angel noted.

Ren nodded, as even though he couldn't hear them over the sounds and noise of the crowd, he could see them. The three armored and armed goons, there really was no better descriptor for them, circled the merchant. Their leader smiled, looking far too pleasant as he did, and motioned for the goons to take him aside.

The thief narrowed his eyes, taking his hands out of his pockets as he moved to intercept, but was stopped suddenly as a hand grabbed his left arm. "Going somewhere?" Anna asked as the thief turned to look at her. Her eyes had a tired look to them as she glanced over to where the group had been moments ago. "It's not going to do you any good. Trust me."

"Anna." Ren nodded slowly at the merchant, his body tense and ready to bolt at a moment's notice. "You have five seconds to explain to me why you're keeping me from intervening."

"He has too many friends." She said lightly, the tension between the two thick. "Both present, and elsewhere."

"Who is he?" Ren asked.

"Louis Vanguar, though something tells me you already knew that." She said with a tilt of her head. The merchant shrugged a moment later. "Not much to say there however. He could run almost anyone out of the marketplace if he wanted. You and I are outside his reach, so if you can help it, try and keep it that way."

Ren glanced back at the marketplace to find the man in question and his goons walking about, seemingly eyeing various customers as they passed by them. The teen grit his teeth before sighing. "I see… How bad is it?" The teen asked, eyes locked onto the man while he handed Anna a coin.

The merchant raised an eyebrow at the thief before chuckling, slipping the coin away as she looked ahead at the marketplace. "He's good, but not good enough. There are plenty of… under the table deals that would likely get him revoked of his position at the monastery, if not worse outright. There just hasn't been a reason to dig deep with him for the knights."

"So he's a grade A asshole, then." The teen noted, earning a light chuckle from Anna.

"That wouldn't be a bad way of putting it." She said, before she narrowed her eyes. "Hey, isn't that one of your students?"

Ren followed her line of sight before finally landing his gaze on Petra, who was currently looking over some materials for weapon upkeep. He glanced to the left, before feeling a stone drop in his stomach as he saw Louis walking over with his goons, their focus almost locked onto his student.

Ren shook his arm out from Anna's grasp, walking as fast as he could without drawing a lot of attention to himself towards Petra. The thief slipped in and out of a few crowds that had formed between him and his student, before finally breaking through to the other side to find Petra staring at Louis with a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

"-ld be best if you leave." The man said, a slightly posh intone that sounded practiced coming out from his mouth. "The fact you're enrolled at the academy is surprising enough, but I don't think the Marketplace needs to be infested as well…"

"I- I am just coming to-" Petra began, cutting herself off at the force behind the glare now being leveled at her.

"I don't believe I need to make myself more clear here…" Louis began, taking another step forward before stopping as someone stepped in front of Petra. "I-"

"Excuse me, but I'd like to ask you to step back, Sir." Ren said as he met the man's gaze, a hand held behind him towards Petra reassuringly.

Louis seemed almost shocked at the introduction, taking a step back involuntarily as he looked at Ren's face. "Another foreigner…" He said under his breath, face morphing into a sneer for a moment before it returned to a posh look as he spoke up. "And just what is it you're doing?"

"Well, I think I'm making sure my friend here has some personal space." Ren said lightly, but his eyes were locked onto Louis almost daringly. "You didn't seem to be very mindful of that sort of thing a moment ago. Or did you not learn that growing up?"

"How dare-!" Louis glared at Ren, the three goons taking a step forward only to be stopped by the raise of a hand. "Do you know who I am, boy?"

"No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure." Ren said with a slight drawl.

Louis sniffed, nostrils flared mockingly. "I am the manager of the Garreg Mach Monastery Marketplace. And you are-"

"Not someone you should not try this on." Ren said bluntly, before smiling. "Or in other words, my name is Professor Amamiya, one of the professors in charge of the Black Eagle House, the same house this student behind me is in, the one you were harassing moments ago."

Louis' eyes widened slightly, before the air seemingly left his lungs as his eyes widened even further as the information fully set in. "So, if you'll be so kind as to leave the two of us be, we'll just let bygones be bygones, yes?" Ren continued, smiling cheerfully.

"I… Let's go." The man said, swiftly turning around as he walked away, goons slowly following behind with slightly confused looks.

"A pleasure meeting you!" Ren called out to the man as he made a retreat, smirking at the tensing of the man's shoulders. The thief let out a breath as his expression fell, before turning to Petra with a small smile. "You okay?"

"Yes, I am." Petra nodded. "Thank you for the assistance."

"It's no problem." Ren said with a smile. "If anyone else tries that with you, come find me or Byleth and we'll help you out, alright?"

"I understand." Petra said with a nod.

"Good. For now, I'll leave you to your shopping. I'll see you in class tomorrow." Ren said with a nod as he walked away from his student and moved back towards Anna.

"Well, that cleaned itself up fast." The merchant noted. "Didn't think you had that kind of sway here. Well, either that, or you're really good at playing people."

"I'm not a fan of rotten adults." Ren said with a shrug. "I've seen worse and bowed to none, he won't be the first I get on the bad side of. I'm surprised he's getting away with as much as he has if he's being so… outright about it."

"Discrimination isn't exactly uncommon, as you're no doubt aware by now. Not many see a reason to make a big deal of it." Anna said with a sigh, before turning back to her corner of the marker. "Not much we can do about it right now. That sort of thing doesn't change overnight."

"Yeah, I suppose it doesn't." Ren muttered, before tilting his head as Anna quickly walked back to the teen with a small bag in hand. "Um…?"

"I just got this in earlier today. I figured I'd give you a bit of a taste first since you're the guy who seems to know everything about coffee." Anna said, handing the bag over to Ren.

"...A taste, huh? Not sure I'd call handing out samples your style." Ren said, raising an eyebrow at the Merchant.

"They're a new startup, and I figured who best to determine if their product is up to quality." Anna replied easily with a shrug. "So consider this a mutual favor of sorts."

"Alright then. I'll see what I can do with it." Ren said with a nod, looking down at the bag in his hand.

Ren glanced back at the front of his café, eyeing the students passing by out the window. "Any moment now…" The teen muttered, looking down at the two cups of coffee prepared before him.

"Hopefully they know enough to not arrive at the same time." Morgana said as he stretched.

Ren glanced back towards the door just in time to see a shadow pass by the window, before the front door opened with a chime. "Afternoon." He said, smiling at Lysithea as she walked into the Café, door closing behind her.

"Claude will be here in a few minutes." Lysithea said, walking over to the counter. She took a seat on the stool opposite Ren and glanced down at the cups of coffee. "Coffee?"

"Premade in advance." Ren said, sliding the cup on the right over to her. "I used a different blend for this one, and I think you'll enjoy this one a bit more."

"Thank you." Lysithea said with a nod, picking the cup up to her mouth to take a sip. The girl blinked as the taste hit her, before tipping the cup back to take another longer sip.

Ren glanced over at Morgana with a smirk, earning a rueful shake of the head from the feline as Lysithea placed the cup back on the counter. "Well, she clearly didn't think too much about the fact she was playing taste tester." Morgana said, earning a slightly surprised look from the teen. "What? He did just say it was a new blend."

"What did you think?" Ren asked, leaning slightly onto the countertop.

"Did you put anything in this?" Lysithea asked. It wasn't accusing, her tone more curious than anything else.

"Aside from Coffee? Nope." Ren said with a shrug. "I was experimenting with a new type of bean from my supplier. I tried making a cup straight with the beans, and I'm still trying to understand the specifics of how they did it, because the cup was one of the sweetest things I've ever had."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Lysithea replied with a slow nod.

"You'd think, but it was so sweet that it was almost sickeningly so. It also tended to stick around for a bit, which didn't help." Ren said with a shrug. "All I know from the sample bag is that the beans are grown on a small island just south of Alliance territory, and that the beans have an overall sweet, tart flavor to them."

"He then spent the last hour working on a proper mix to make a drink using it. Hence, what you have." Morgana said.

"Not sure what to call it yet though." Ren continued, glancing to the side.

"Probably a better idea to brainstorm names once you're sure it'll work, Leader." Morgana said, getting a light laugh from the teen.

The peace was interrupted by the sound of the door opening once more, as Claude stepped into the café and quickly closed and locked the front door. "Alright, we're all clear!"

"No one saw either of you come in?" Morgana asked.

"If they did, I think I might be slacking. I'm a professional, after all." Claude replied with a shrug.

"Right." Lysithea deadpanned, taking another sip of her coffee.

Ren smiled at the two before clearing his throat. "Alright, let's move on. Claude, take a seat, and drink some coffee. You guys will probably want the energy before we head in."

The two students narrowed their eyes slightly at Ren's words, their attention fully on the teen. Claude sat down next to Lysithea, picking up the remaining cup of coffee and taking a sip of the house blend within. "We're going into Mementos?" Claude asked.

"For two reasons this time, but yes." Ren nodded as he glanced over at Morgana. "I had Morgana look around the monastery yesterday, see if he could find anything or anyone that would make a suitable target for a change of heart. Just in case."

"In case of what?" Lysithea asked.

"Notoriety." Ren said. "You've seen the doors down in Mementos already, and while the first one opened, it doesn't mean the ones further in will. So we needed to find a target that would establish us as a legit force."

"What about Monica? Why couldn't she be that for us?" Claude asked.

"For the same reason Lysithea wasn't." Ren said calmly, idly noting the light wince from the girl in question. "We'd be giving the wrong impression. The Phantom Thieves do what we do to give hope to the little guys, to show that they don't have to suffer silently by their abusers. With cases like Lysithea, it would be more harmful to the person to put them out like that."

"Which is why we need a target to establish our modus operandi to the masses." Morgana continued. "With Monica, we don't know yet why she has a Jail, or what having a jail even means. But if it's anything like a Palace, it likely isn't anything good."

"You make good points." Claude nodded, before turning to look at Morgana. "So, did you find someone?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Morgana said, leaping behind the counter for a moment before popping back up on the countertop with about 5 sheets of paper between his mouth. The cat let the sheets fall onto the counter, revealing them all to be notices for the marketplace, all written by the man in charge of the space. "His name is Louis Vangaur. He is in charge of the marketplace here at the monastery."

"Vangaur… I don't think I've heard of that name before…" Lysithea said.

"Yeah, doesn't sound like any noble house I've heard of either…" Claude said.

"He sure seemed to act like he was." Morgana said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"He might have made up the last name." Claude replied with a shrug. "Maybe to make himself feel more important."

"But why him exactly?" Lysithea asked.

"He has a stronghold on the marketplace, has turned away various vendors for reasons that were either petty or malicious, likely has done various deals under the table that would land him in a lot of shit…" Ren nodded to himself, before shrugging as he delivered his last point. "Oh, and he's a giant racist."

"You didn't have to deal with him, did you?" Lysithea asked with a hint of concern.

"If by that you mean willingly making a show of power to him when he tried to cause trouble for Petra, then yes." Ren said, getting a bark of laughter from Claude.

"I wish I could've seen that." Claude said with a smirk. "But are you sure you'll be fine? It sounds like you antagonized him."

"I did, but considering it was in defense of my student, I should be perfectly fine." Ren said, crossing his arms.

"So I know why we're going after him, but why all of… this?" Lysithea asked, motioning to the paper.

"That is what we'll be using for the calling card. Can't have any of us incriminate ourselves with our own handwriting." Ren answered with a shrug, getting nods from the students in reply. "Either way, there's not much we can do about him until we send out a calling card. And I'd like for Morgana to at least get an idea of what we might be dealing with before we commit to a plan of attack."

"Which leaves today for us to infiltrate the Jail." Morgana said, taking charge of the conversation as he looked between the two students. "Let's go over this real quick before we head in. Jails, as we've come to refer to them as, drastically change how we need to think about fighting."

"Enemies are numerous, but not infinite. They're overall weaker than their counterparts in Mementos or Palaces however, and while you two don't have access to the multi-target spells yet, our Personas seem to have an extended range in Jails." Morgana continued, looking over to Joker. "Leader, we don't know how negotiations will go, or if we'd even be able to perform a hold up with the sheer number of shadows we could encounter at any time. We should prepare for the possibility that you'll be unable to add new Personas from within the Jail."

Ren nodded. The thief glanced back over to the two students before him before he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Are we ready?"

"Ready as ever." Claude said with an easy smile.

"I as well." Lysithea replied.

"Lead the way, Joker." Morgana said, hopping off the counter.

"Alright. Phantom Thieves…" Ren began, opening the Metanav. "Our mission is a go."

[Beginning Navigation.]

(Play Mementos - Upper Layer)

The thief felt the azure flames wash across him as he arrived at the bottom of the staircase, his thief's garb bursting to life around him. "Mona?" Joker asked, looking over at his feline partner.

"He's here. In the upper levels as well. I think he's a bit closer to us than Monika's Jail is, but I can't tell with us this close to the entrance." Mona replied, looking over at Joker.

"So we just need to head deeper in then, right?" Rokuó noted, glancing over at Mona.

Mona nodded. "Right. Once we get to the floor the shadow we're targeting is on, I'll know."

"I've been meaning to ask about that actually." Mana asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Mona. "What exactly… are you, Mona?"

"Hm?" Mona blinked, turning to look at the witch. "Well, it's a bit complicated, but think of me like a crystallization of humanity's hope."

Rokuó and Mana stared at the cat, before both turned to look at Joker. Even with the masks on their face, the raised eyebrow they were both sporting came across to the teen easily.

"It IS complicated…" Joker replied with a wry smile and a shrug.

"Right… I'm just going to… Move past that. Shall we get moving then?" Rokuó asked.

"Yeah. Come on." Joker said, walking over to the stairs heading deeper in.

(LINE BREAK)

"Joker." Mona began as the group came to a stop. "I can sense him on this floor. But it's a bit different."

"How so?" Joker asked, turning to look at his partner.

"It's actually like the few times I went into Mementos before joining you. I can sense the shadow, but they aren't separated like they normally are when we send a calling card." Mona continued, looking out at the winding paths before them. "Do we want to check it out?"

"Wouldn't hurt." Rokuó said, earning a glance from Joker. "It might give us a better idea of what he's like."

"You're not wrong." Joker nodded, before turning to Mona. "Any chance you can be a bit more specific with his location?"

"Unfortunately not." Mona said with a shake of his head. "I suppose not everything is gonna change."

"Figured I'd ask. Not like we really need it." Joker said with a shrug. "Come on."

Joker ran ahead, followed close behind by his teammates. The layout of this floor was decidedly bizarre, with various hallways of elevation that didn't seem easily reached if you didn't know how to maneuver the equally as bizarre railings, poles, and stonework that jutted out from the walls.

The thief glanced up at one such hallway and leapt up, ascending up towards it with ease as he clambered, bounced and swung off his surroundings. Joker pulled himself up into a crouch as he arrived at the open hole in the wall, which instead of the usual hallways seemed to turn into something more akin to a rafter, or balcony.

The sound of grapple hooks going off behind him alerted him to the arrival of the others. Mana let out a breath as she slowly moved up next to him. "I don't know how you do half the things you do." She said.

"Experience, and a good Gymnastics teacher." Joker replied, smiling lightly at the thought of Kasumi. 'Huh, I wonder how Yoshizawa-San is doing…'

"Hey, quiet. I think I hear something." Rokuó said before the party began to quiet down.

Joker took a step further out, peering over the edge as he watched a group of three shadows walk down a hallway below him. The thief narrowed his eyes at the one in front before turning to the others, pointing at the one in the front with a narrowed gaze as if to say "that one".

"It's absurd is what it is!" Louis Vangaur's Shadow spoke up, clearly angry. "That no good, little upstart slime! Make a fool of me, will he? If I wasn't stuck playing nice with the church I'd give him exactly what he deserves…!"

"And the award for biggest dastard goes to…" Rokuó muttered quietly to himself, but apparently loud enough for Mana to hear as she elbowed his side with a glare.

"Sir, perhaps you could try having one of your friends deal with him for you?" One of the other two asked, possibly one of the Shadow's Cognition.

"I plan to of course, just because he's untouchable by the law, doesn't mean he's invulnerable." The Shadow continued. "Unfortunately, my contacts have a schedule, and I can't contact them any day but Sundays…"

Louis' Shadow sighed. "They've done quite a lot for me, paid handsomely as well, especially that time I got them in contact with that Kostas filth…"

Joker's eyes narrowed, ignoring the quiet gasp from Mana and the equally as quiet grunt from Rokuó at the information.

"Filthy bandit. Can't even do a job properly. I'd give them a piece of my mind if I knew where they were. The knights might even thank me." The shadow sneered, before finally walking out of earshot of the Thieves as he disappeared with his men.

Joker waited a few minutes before turning back to face his party. He shot a pointed look at Mona. "Sunday deadline. We're plastering the whole marketplace with calling cards."

"Got it." Mona nodded, his posture tense

"Not leaving us a lot of time, is he?" Rokuó said, a grimace on hid face.

"Unfortunately not." Mona replied, shaking his head.

"He brought up Kostas. Wasn't that the bandit those Shadows were talking about in the jail? The ones who attacked us during the training excursion?" Mana asked.

"It is." Joker nodded, crossing his arms. "Whoever he is, he has his fingers in some pretty messed up pies…"

"As much as I'd like to think about the implications of this, we should probably do what we came here for." Mona cut in. "Come on!"

(Play Welcome To The Jail)

"Hello fortress, we meet again." Rokuó said, looking up at the walls of the Jail before the group.

Mana glanced over at the deer with an unimpressed expression. "Really?"

"What?" Rokuó tilted his head.

"Alright, so we can teleport in at the safe room, right?" Mona asked, looking over at Joker.

"Right." The teen nodded, pulling out his phone and opening the Metanav.

"It's here. We can begin the infiltration…" Joker began before pausing as there was a shudder in the air. The thief looked up at the jail, watching with narrowed eyes as the surface of it began to shimmer. "Wait-"

The thieves watched as the outwards design shifted, the overall shape staying the same with the exception of the style. The change seemingly shifted back and forth in various spots along its exterior for a moment before shifting back and solidifying.

"...What just happened?" Rokuó asked.

"I'm… not sure? It actually resembled how safe rooms will sometimes shift to look like the rooms they make up in reality…" Mona noted.

"So the exterior isn't something Monica has a lot of control over." Joker noted, before looking to the side. "Not like she has a lot of control here in general…"

"We can debate over what that was later. Right now we should hurry up." Mona said, giving a pointed look to Joker.

"Well, you heard him." Joker said, glancing back over at the two students with a shrug, before tapping the safe room on the app.

(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)

"Alright. Remember, if we can avoid it, steer clear of shadows. The less time we spend fighting, the more time and energy we have to make our way through this place." Mona said, before looking over at Joker. "Leader, what's our first move?"

"If we can find one, get us a map. Right now we're wandering around blindly." Joker stated, looking over the railing at the entrance hall before him. "Only issue is that finding a map is going to be particularly difficult. Especially somewhere like here…"

"Mona, we don't know if there's a treasure here, but can you feel one? If so, that would help us pinpoint the general direction we're looking for." Joker asked, looking over at his partner.

Mona crossed his arms and closed his eyes, before shaking his head with a slight grimace. "I'm not feeling anything. Or at least, what I am isn't anything like normal treasures. It's actually a bit harder to feel out than a treasure bud from a Mementos target…"

"That doesn't sound good." Rokuó said, looking over at Joker. "I assume that's not good?"

"We don't really know. Jails are a new development for us as well." Joker said, placing his hands in his pockets. "But the seeming lack of a treasure is concerning."

"Is that why it hasn't split off from Mementos?" Mana asked with a slight raise of her hand. "If Palaces can only be kept stable outside of Mementos by the presence of a treasure, then it would make sense the lack of one would keep this Jail tethered to Mementos."

"Wow, she's quick." Mona praised. "Not a bad idea, rookie!"

Mana sheepishly looked to the side, rubbing the back of her head. Joker glanced back over the railing. "It's possible, but until we clear the place we can't be certain." He said, before motioning Rokuó over to him. "Rokuó, you think those would hold our weight?"

Rokuó glanced out in the direction the thief was pointing, before smirking. "I think those chandeliers should be able to." He said, looking at the four chandeliers hanging between both entrance hall balconies. "Even if they do look a bit melted."

"Well, come on then." Joker said, turning and running down the hall a few steps before turning to face the first chandelier. "Follow me."

The thief jumped and kicked off the balcony railing, landing on top of the first chandelier with ease. He glanced up at the chain suspending it in the air and smirked. "Didn't even move…" He muttered to himself before turning to look at the others. Joker smirked, waving the rest of the

thieves over as he jumped over to the next chandelier. The thief moved across the other chandeliers with ease, keeping an eye out on the others as he did so.

Joker landed on the final chandelier and leapt off it, pulling his lower body to the side as he grabbed onto the balcony railing and vaulted over it. The teen landed in a roll and popped up to a stand, quickly looking behind him as his teammates quickly landed behind him with a bit less style.

"Alright, now we're on the other balcony… Now what?" Mana asked, looking around.

"There's a door at the end there." Joker said, pointing at the door at the end of the hallway. "We'll go in through there."

"So Joker, Mona, if you had to say, what were some of the weirdest Palaces you two dealt with?" Rokuó asked as the thieves moved down the hall.

"You'll need to be a bit more specific." Mona said as Joker reached the door. "Weird how?"

"Distortion wise." Rokuó elaborated as Joker swung the door open, revealing a hallway that curved to the left. The walls of the hallway were sporadically indented by different jail cells, each of them empty. "Like this place for example. It's filled with these empty cells all over the place. Kind of creepy if I'm being honest."

"It's possible Monica sees this place as a prison, so the whole jail IS one because of the distortion." Mana replied. "But it still feels rather… tame."

"Trust us, it is. It's concerning, but we've had worse. One target's palace was a space station." Joker said.

"A what?" Mana asked, looking at Joker with a confused expression.

"...You know the stars in the sky? Imagine a fortress of metal that existed within a void filled with those stars." Joker explained. "That's the easiest way I can describe it."

"That's… What kind of person ruled that palace with a distortion so… bizarre?" Mana asked.

"Someone really screwed up in the head." Rokuó noted, the deer glancing to the side as he spoke.

"Well… you aren't wrong." Mona said as he shared a sheepish look with Joker.

"Watch your step." Joker said, looking down at the floor as patches of carpet seemed to give way to more cells further ahead as the hallway began to twist into a downward spiral.

The thieves continued downward, passing by cell after cell before reaching two doors at the end of the hallway, both facing opposite the other.

"Great, a split in the path." Rokuó noted, walking up to one of them. He grabbed the handle and pushed, but the door remained stuck. "Or not. This one's locked."

"Joker could lockpick it though, right?" Mana asked.

"Lockpicking in the metaverse isn't exactly the same. Some doors can't be opened without a specific key, and the only thing that can be lock picked are usually chests." Joker explained with a shake of his head. "Only real choice is to try the other door."

Rokuó nodded, reaching for the handle for the other door and swinging it open. "Well, that one isn't locked."

"Clearly." Mana deadpanned, stepping past the deer as she moved into the room. "Hm, it's spacious."

"So be ready in case combat breaks out." Mona said, stepping in as well.

Joker glanced out at the room. Various crates and boxes were stacked up in various spots around the room, a few different tables with different sheets and rolls of paper strewn about atop them. At the far back was a chest, an oversized lock clamped over the front. "Alright, I guess that's our ticket then." The thief noted, walking past the others as he moved to the nearest table. He picked up and rolled out the roll of paper in front of him. "Wait… this is…"

It was a map, not of the Jail, but of some other building. Different notes were written in and scratched out in ink, all different methods of engagement. At the top was Monica's name displayed, along with a title denoting it as an assignment.

"Joker, mind filling us in?" Rokuó asked as he walked up next to the teen. "Wait, this looks like…"

"Homework?" Joker finished with a raised eyebrow. At the deer's nod, the thief looked back down at the page. "But why?"

"It's the same over here." Mona said, looking down at the various sheets of parchment before him. "These are quizzes. History, math… There's even some for Battle and Combat Theory."

"It's all… really advanced though." Mana noted, picking one of the sheets up. "Way past what we're currently being taught."

"Any ideas as to why?" Rokuó asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, if it's her cognition…" Mona trailed off as he placed a paw to his chin. "If she is the Prisoner that those Shadows talked about, then there's a high likelihood that she isn't being given much visual information. But she could overhear things fine enough that it'd be present in the palace."

"So this is just the cognition filling in the blanks then?" Joker guessed, looking down at the map. Rokuó glanced over at him with a look that expected elaboration. "Because things like maps or documents would likely be found in a jail or fortress, at least by our cognition's standards, the mind needs to fill the details in with something. So it likely used whatever it could, in this case, Monica's homework."

"...So should we take any of-"

"No." Joker leveled a flat look at Rokuó.

"I was joking." Rokuó replied with a smile.

"Sure you were…" Mana said with a roll of the eyes.

"Joker, we should keep moving. Let's pop open the chest and see what's inside." Mona said.

"Alright, let me show you guys how it's done." Joker said, pulling out his master pick as he walked up to the chest at the end of the room. The thief crouched down and inserted the pick into the lock, before expertly twisting to the side as a loud click rang out. "There, done."

"That was fast." Mana noted, eyes wide.

Rokuó nodded, crossing his arms. "Not bad, Sensei."

"I aim to please." Joker said with a smirk before he pulled the lock off the chest. "Now, what do we have here?"

The thief hefted the lid up, swinging it open to reveal the contents within. Joker reached down and pulled up a small key and a folded up sheet of parchment, roughly letter sized. "Well, I'd say this was a lucky find." He said with a smirk as he slipped the key into his pocket and unfolded the parchment.

It wasn't complete, but then again, most maps the thief had found usually weren't. The thief nodded to himself, before pulling out his phone and opening the nav. "We got the first map!"

"Alright, that should speed things up!" Mona said.

"Just let me get it added to the nav…" Joker said, opening the map tab before taking a photo of the map. "The one thing that my camera works for in the metaverse, at least it's something."

The thief let the parchment fall to the ground as he looked over the map on his phone. "Okay, let's go." Joker said, looking back up at the group.

The thieves nodded and made their way out of the room, the door opening and closing behind them without issue.

"You know, I was fully expecting a fight in there." Rokuó noted, looking back at the door.

"Well, good thing we didn't have one then, right?" Mana replied, looking over at Joker as the teen slotted the key into the door.

The key glowed, before vanishing, the sound of the door unlocking ringing out softly. "Yeah." Joker nodded, opening the door and stepping out. "Uh oh…"

Joker stared out through where he had opened the door, the group of six shadows standing on the other side stared back at him. The thief nodded, before slowly back up and pulling the door shut.

"Joker…" Mona narrowed his eyes at the leader of the thieves.

"...We may have spoken too soon." The thief said, before the door behind him shook as something slammed into it. "Just maybe."

Joker smiled, turning back to face the door. "Get ready!" He said, summoning Paradise Lost before kicking the door open, knocking the shadow that was banging on it back towards the others. "Because it's showtime!"

(Play What You Wish For - P5 Strikers)

The thieves charged into the room, the door closing behind them as the shadows burst open, spawning multiple enemies. Joker smirked rolling his neck before reaching up towards his mask. "Come, Arsene!" He shouted, ripping his mask off. "Ravage them!"

Arsene burst forth in a gout of azure fire, rushing ahead as his arm swung wide, cleaving through a number of Ooze with ease. Joker followed just behind, slicing through the remaining stragglers not caught up in his Persona's attack. "Eiha!" Joker shouted, throwing his arm out another clumped together group of shadows.

Arsene slammed his hand against the ground, curse energy surging through until it burst up from underneath the group, sending a few of the shadows into the air. Joker pulled out Daredevil and lined up his target, before firing the three Sprite's out of the air as they tried to recover.

Joker heard the sound of steel slicing through the air and leaned back, avoiding the spear suddenly being thrust at his head. The teen narrowed his eyes, returning Arsene as he leapt backwards, flipping into a handspring to right himself as the shadow in front of him adjusted his position.

The shadow was tall, its lower half covered in fur with its legs seemingly being that of a goat. Its upper body was left mostly open, with the exception of some leather shoulder armor. "Well, you're new." Joker noted, ducking to the side the shadow charged at him. "And angry!"

Joker jumped back and flipped in the air, his mask flashing blue as he switched his Persona. "Panser!" The thief shouted, ripping his mask off as his Persona burst to life in front of him, arms crossed to block the strike from the shadow in front of him.

The spear struck the armored bear, the impact sending the teen sliding back as he landed. Joker narrowed his eyes, throwing his arm out to the side. "Panser, bury them!"

"Terra!" The Persona roared, slamming it's armored first into the ground, causing two spikes of earth to shoot out of the ground, smashing against the shadow in front of him. "He's on the ropes!"

"Guys, how are things?" Joker yelled, glancing over his shoulder at the other thieves.

"We're managing!" Mana replied, her persona firing another curse at a Sprite that was getting a bit close.

"We should wrap this up soon, though!" Rokuó noted, firing a crossbow bolt at an Ooze before ripping his mask off. "Robin! Zio!"

"Well then…" Joker said, turning back to the downed shadow as Panser retreated back into the thief's mask. The mask flashed blue as the Persona was switched around, before being swiftly ripped off to another Persona. "Come, Risen!'

The shambling undead burst to life in front of the thief, head twitching as it became tangible. Joker threw his arm out towards the shadow with a flourish, eyes locked on the Spearman. "Double Fang!"

The Persona let out a guttural roar, surging forwards at the pinned Shadow. Its arms flew out, cleaving down across the Shadow's chest diagonally twice, the impact disintegrating the shadow soon after.

Joker let out a breath, turning around to watch as his teammates finished up the remaining Shadows in the room. "Return." He said, his Persona vanishing as it was unsummoned.

(Play Singularity - P5 Strikers)

"Alright, everyone okay?" Joker asked, scanning the other thieves for injuries.

"I think we're all fine." Mona said, before tilting his head to the side. "Joker, there's something behind you. Isn't that your mask on the ground?"

"Hm?" Joker turned around to find a translucent blue mask floating an inch off the ground, almost beckoning him in the way it glowed. "That's new…"

Joker walked over to the mask and crouched down, reaching a hand out towards it. The mask grew bright and jumped at the thief, slamming into his mask and merging with it. "I am thou, Thou art I. You have earned my respect. I, Satyr, shall assist you." The words echoed in his head as he felt another Persona get added to his stock.

"That makes seven, then…" Joker noted as he rolled his neck.

"Well, I suppose we don't need to worry about hold ups now…" Morgana noted, crossing his arms. "That… was a new Persona you gained, right?"

"Yeah." Joker nodded. The thief pulled out his phone and opened the Metanav, tapping the map icon as he looked over the upcoming layout. "That's… strange."

"What is?" Mana asked, the witch walking up next to the teen.

"The next hallway splits off. See?" Joker noted, tilting the phone down so Mana could see the map. "The hallway goes up to here, to this open room at the end, but there's another path right next to it that splits into three, the rest of which aren't on the map. The fact the map cuts off so early is what I'm confused about."

"Well, no point in staying here and thinking about it. Might as well take a look, right?" Rokuó said as he placed his hand on his hip.

"He's right. Let's not waste any time here." Mona nodded. "Let's go."

The thieves turned and headed towards the door at the end of the room. Joker gripped the handle of the door and pushed it open, revealing a hallway seemingly made of jail cells that melted in on each other.

"Well, that's fetching." Rokuó deadpanned, looking over the way the bars melted in on each other.

"The distortion is really strong here. We should be careful." Mona noted, glancing around the hallway.

Joker narrowed his eyes, picking up his pace as he made for the end of the hallway. The thief slowed to a stop as he reached the end, a large barred gate with three keyholes present over the front.

"This doesn't look good." Rokuó said as the other thieves caught up with Joker. "Joker, what do you think? Joker?"

"Look." The teen said, pointing at something on the other side of the bars. Facing opposite the large gate was a single jail cell, one with a captive inside.

Red hair that was clearly disheveled from lack of care draped down over the battered officer's academy student uniform worn by the Prisoner. The assumed student was shackled down by chains and cuffed in place, seemingly restrained in its movement.

"Is that…?" Mana asked, wide eyes locked on the figure in the cell.

"Yeah, there's no doubt." Mona said as he crossed his arms. "That's our target."

Joker took another step closer to the gate, only to stop suddenly as the girl's head shot up to stare back at him. The Shadow's yellow eyes peered back at him, head tilting slightly as she looked at him.

Joker took in a breath, before exhaling. "That's Monica."