Chapter 63: The Pharaoh's Tomb
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
Sojiro wasn't at Leblanc, so after he told them that he'd take them to the house they walked down the street towards it.
However, his mind was still whirling a mile a minute. There was no need to panic. It didn't matter what Medjed tried, the day they managed to do anything to his uncle's company was the day hell froze over with how good their cybersecurity had to be.
But it didn't stop him from worrying about that one percent chance that Medjed did accomplish something, and it would all be his fault for starting the chain of dominoes that led to it.
Enough, Trickster. There is no point in worrying when thou can prevent thy enemies from doing anything by getting Alibaba on thy side.
Listen to yourself, my dear. There is no need to panic at this stage.
He nodded at Leanan Sidhe's words and refocused on the house. It looked dark, light escaping only one of the windows. "Nobody is answering," Makoto noted as she rang the doorbell. " But the lights are on…"
"Think she's nappin'?"
"Even Boss would've woken up with how many times we've rung the doorbell."
"He is pretty old, though," he joked, forcing himself to get past his bad mood. He didn't like the look Ann was giving him, if she asked why he seemed so out-of-sorts he didn't want to come up with another lie, especially since he had been planning on revealing everything about his family soon enough anyway. "Think I can pick the lock?"
"Dude! That's illegal!" He raised an eyebrow at Ryuji. "Uh, you get what I mean!"
"I would think that Futaba would have answered by now if she were here too," Morgana muttered.
"Ah." He looked over and saw that Yusuke had casually opened the front gate. "It was unlocked."
"Dude, you can't go openin' other people's stuff like that."
"But look," Makoto pointed. "The door seems to be slightly open as well. I wonder why. That's rather careless…"
"Ignore Ruru, Yusuke. If they're unlocked, that means this is no longer breaking and entering!"
"Oh, I see."
Their council president just sighed. "Akira…"
His Personas cackled, while the more responsible ones groaned.
Thunder suddenly crashed, and everyone looked up at the dark clouds overhead. Morgana huddled deeper into his bag. "Whoa, it sounds like it's going to rain. We should get inside!"
"Do you think that's okay?"
Ryuji just grinned. "Prolly."
A groan left the brunette. "My apologies, Boss…" They walked up to the front door and slid it open, revealing the dark hallway within. He could vaguely see some pictures on the walls, but there wasn't enough light to see what they were. "Hello, sir?"
Nobody answered.
"He's not out, is he? The door down the hall is open, and I can hear the TV…"
He furrowed his brow and nodded at Makoto. "Considering it's on, he probably isn't out, no."
"I hope he didn't pass out or nothin'. I don't wanna repeat you, but, he is kinda old…"
"I'm a bit worried," Ann agreed. "Should we go in and check on him?"
"Please excuse us…" For some reason, Makoto's voice sounded shaky. They walked further in, but a flash of lightning heralded the power going out. At the same time, a feminine scream that wasn't Ann or Makoto, and certainly not from Ryuji, Yusuke, Morgana, or himself, pierced the silence. "A scream?! What was that?!"
"H-How should I know?!" Morgana screeched back.
He just snorted in amusement. "You said it yourself, Niiji. it was a scream."
What sounded like a door slamming echoed from further into the house. "Did you hear that?!"
The Priestess is… certainly freaking out.
'It's almost adorable,' he internally chuckled.
Is this that 'gap-moe' shit? Oni grumbled.
How do you even know that phrase?!
We know everything Starr-sama knows, dumbass!
He tuned the voices in his head out, as Ann crept closer. "Let's get out of here, please? Can we just go?"
He and Ryuji met each other's gazes incredulously, with the faux-blond laughing a bit. "What're you freakin' out for?"
"I-I-I'm not freaking out!"
"You stuttered so hard you said 'I' three times," he dryly pointed out.
"Could it be Alibaba? I mean, Futaba?"
"That would be the most likely answer," Yusuke answered Morgana.
"Hm…" He wanted to keep going, because they still hadn't gotten an answer on whether Sakura was there and passed out in front of the TV, but it seemed Makoto and Ann were too freaked out. As much as it was killing him with the encroaching deadline, it was best to do this another time. "All right, let's end this here. Back to the entrance."
"R-Right!" As they walked back, he couldn't help but subtly tap Makoto on the shoulder with a smirk on his face, a bit of Joker leaking through. "EEK!"
He regretted it when she reflexively punched him in the mouth. "FUCK!"
"A-Akira?! How could you?!"
"Goddamn, you hit like a horse kicks!"
"Damn, dude! Are you bleedin'?!"
"Oh my."
Morgana sighed. "That's what you get, Akira."
"Man, screw this… PSI Rebellion α." He held his hand up and let Rebellion form over it. He unfortunately couldn't practice much in the real world with no safe place to do so, and in the Metaverse it was too draining, but he could at the very least condense the PSI into a glowing orb to light their surroundings up.
…He just had to be careful not to blow up the house.
On second thought, perhaps don't use thy PSI as a glorified lamp…
'Eh, it'll be fine.'
Don't trip, Not-Phoenix chuckled.
The tri-colored orb of light flickered in the dark, and while the silver and red helped, the black just caused the already dark hall to dim further. He tried not to think how the 'black' was giving off light. And of course, now their shadows splayed across the walls were moving and flickering everywhere thanks to the instability of his psychic power. It was semi-useful, but it honestly wasn't much brighter. "Ann, am I bleeding, or was Ruru messing with me?"
She inspected his face, then moved closer to try and see better. "I don't think so? The red light makes it hard to tell…"
"Get closer, that might help," Ryuji suggested with a shit-eating grin.
"Don't!" Morgana yelled from his bag.
"I thought we were leaving?!" Makoto asked, practically shivering. It seemed their moving shadows were also freaking her out. "Ohhhh… Ryuji, can I hold your hand?!"
"HUH?! U-Uh, sure! Go for it!" Makoto didn't exactly take his hand, rather she wrapped her arms around one of his, squeezing her eyes closed.
"Come on, then." They resumed the march to the exit, Yusuke enamored with his ball of energy. "Honestly, you two, it's like you think Sakura's house is haunted."
"D-Don't make fun of me!"
"Y-Yeah, Akira! What if it really IS haunted? You won't be laughing then!"
He gave the beautiful blonde a look. "Ann, ghosts don't exist."
"To be fair," Ryuji spoke happily and obliviously, near-completely focused on Makoto hugging his arm. "I thought psychic powers didn't exist a few months ago."
…Uh…
…The dude has a point.
'...'
He dropped the teasing grin and said nothing else as he focused on walking towards the exit as quickly as possible. Out of nowhere, they heard a swish noise, the sound of something moving swiftly through the dark, and Yusuke paused. "I can sense someone's presence…"
"Who is it?" Makoto whispered into the dark, his Rebellion casting frightful shadows onto her face. "Who's there?!" Morgana whimpered in his ear. Ann suddenly stepped closer to him. Yusuke's hand dropped to his waist, forgetting he didn't have his sword.
Ryuji kept smiling.
"I-I can't take this anymore! I'm leaving!" Ryuji yelped when Makoto suddenly fell as her legs gave out, nearly dragging him down with her. "N-No… My legs won't move…"
I feel asss though we're all being very over-dramatic here.
He turned around to help Ryuji drag Makoto out of the house, but as he did the silver-red light hovering over his hand illuminated something. Standing behind Ryuji and the freaked-out girl was a dark figure, with long hair that reached the floor. The eerie colors of his Rebellion reflected off wide empty eyes, more like lenses than anything else.
"EEK!"
ANNIHILATE THAT THING!
"REBELLI—!"
"Akira, what the hell?!" Ann grabbed him before he could lob the Rebellion like a softball and blow up the house.
Morgana yelped as his bag jostled around. "Hey, quit it!"
GHOST! LEMME STAB IT!
YOU CAN'T STAB A GHOST, YAKSINI!
YOU THINK THAT'LL STOP ME?!
At the same time that Makoto screamed and fell to her knees, hugging Ryuji's leg, the ghost zipped down the hall while screaming in… terror? "Alibaba! Uh, I mean, Futaba! Hey, c'mon! Where are you?!" Ann whacked his arm down and he let the Rebellion die out into nothingness casting the hall back into pure darkness. "{Akira, you scared her off!}"
"{I have a right to bear arms in self-defense against ghosts!}"
"{PSI doesn't count! And there's nothing in the Constitution about ghosts! …I think!} Futaba, you're the hacker Alibaba, right?! Just show yourself!"
Ryuji yelped as Makoto hugged his leg so tightly that she nearly broke it all over again. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! PleasesavemeSis!"
"Are you okay Futaba?!" Akira's eyes widened when he heard Sakura's voice outside the house.
"Crap, he's home!" Ryuji tried to dash into a side room with Ann, Yusuke, and him, but Makoto holding him nearly caused him to trip and faceplant.
The door rattled open as Sakura burst inside. Akira peered around the corner, seeing Sakura squinting, trying to see who had broken into his house. Even with the Rebellion he'd used earlier, their eyes had gotten used to the darkness, while Sakura was still unable to see anything. "Who the hell are you?! Don't move! You hear me?!"
Sakura reached for a flashlight on the table by the door, and when he flicked it on he was greeted by the sight of Ryuji awkwardly trying to balance himself while Makoto was practically a ball of tears on the floor. "...Hi?"
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msosorrySis… Somebodypleasesaveme…"
"Uh… What're you two doing in my house?"
His voice snapped Makoto out of her state, and she looked up at him in surprise. "Ah… Oh, g-good evening, sir. We… Didn't mean… To intrude."
Sakura turned off and put the flashlight down, looking more confused than anything else. "Niijima-san?" He looked between Ryuji and Makoto. "Wait, are you two dating?"
"We-We're just friends!"
"Friends nowadays get that close?"
"That's not it!" Makoto shot up to her feet, looking back and forth between Ryuji and Sakura. "This, um… Things happened… And…"
"Can't blame him for thinking that," he spoke up as he walked out of the side room, causing Sakura to jolt in surprise. "You were quite literally at crotch height. Kink—" Ann smacked him on the arm as she and Yusuke followed him out. "Ow."
"You kids are here too?"
Ann wrung her hands together, embarrassed at being caught. "Um, we bought you some sushi, but nobody answered when we rang the bell, and the door was unlocked, but we could hear the TV, so we got worried you might have passed out or something."
Thankfully, it was all true so her terrible acting didn't get them caught in a lie.
She really needs to take lessons, Nekomata giggled.
"The door was unlocked?"
"The front gate, too," he commented.
Sakura sighed. "...I do that sometimes. Guess I'm getting old."
"Um, excuse me. There's something I'd like to ask." The older man raised an eyebrow as Makoto spoke up, having finally collected herself after her breakdown. "There's someone else living here… Isn't there?"
"Yeah…" Sakura sighed, and Akira heard a deep weariness in him. "My daughter."
"That would be Futaba Sakura?"
"You told Niijima-san too?!"
He held his hands up in innocence, while Makoto continued to speak. Sakura seemed more receptive to her questions anyway. "U-Um, is there any way we could meet with Futaba-san? I think we may have frightened her earlier, so we'd like to apologize if at all possible."
"Well, that's…" A conflicted look spread across his face.
"Is she sick?"
"No, it's not like that." He looked at all their faces, the worry and doubt etched into them, and sighed. "I don't want you all getting the wrong idea…" Sakura focused on him. "I shouldn't have kept this a secret from you. Let's talk at the shop. She'll hear us if we stay here."
The older man turned and walked out of the house while the Phantom Thieves all glanced at each other before following. As they went Akira felt his bag rustle and Morgana jumped out. He looked at the not-cat in confusion, before leaving him to his devices. While curious, he figured Morgana knew what he was doing, and would tell him later.
When they returned to Leblanc Sakura sat at the bar, collecting himself, while they all sat around him waiting for him to start his and Futaba's story. "Now, where do I start…?"
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Alibaba•
"Futaba's mother and I knew each other long before Futaba was born. Her mother was a bit of a weird one, but we got along well for some reason…"
It felt… weird hearing Sojiro talk about her. He never talked about her when he put food outside her door. She never heard him say anything about her anymore.
"She was sharp-witted, somewhat stern, a little socially inept, but always carefree… She truly was a great woman."
"I see," Niijima replied.
"When something piqued her interest, that'd be all she focused on. She always worked deep into the night. I thought that'd change after her kid was born, but having Futaba didn't do much. Even with that, she always ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ her."
The next voice to speak came from the foreign girl. "Working and watching over a child at the same time sounds rough…"
"I guess raising Futaba alone turned out to be tough on her in more ways than one…" Yes. It was. And that's why she… She was the reason that…
Murderer!
You killed her!
"What about her father?" Starr's voice cut through the ghosts.
"There wasn't a father."
"Do you mean…"
"Well, there probably was one. I didn't know him though. She never said a word about him, either. She was single when she gave birth to Futaba, and single when she raised her. They were an ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ family. You could tell how much she ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅ Futaba."
Her head was pounding. She didn't want to hear this… She knew how much her mother hated her…
"But one day, she left… Leaving Futaba behind."
"She left?"
"Yes. She committed suicide."
"Suicide?!"
"Threw herself into the street, right in front of Futaba's eyes."
And it was all her fault.
"Shocking doesn't even begin to describe that."
"That's gotta be devastatin' for a kid…"
"Well, a lot ended up happening after that, but I ended up taking custody of Futaba. First, she was so depressed she… she wouldn't even talk to me."
"Was that because she couldn't get over her mother's suicide?"
"I kept talking to her, though, and she started opening up to me little by little. That's when I found out… Futaba blames herself for her mother's death."
"What?! But why?!"
"That part she's never told me. I wanted to know what led her to believing that, but I decided not to rub salt in the wound."
Her eyes squeezed shut. Sojiro…
"Then, a few months ago… She started getting real scared, even when nothing was happening. She'd say things like, 'I hear voices' and, 'Mom is looking at me'."
"Visual and auditory hallucinations…"
Why don't you say something?!
She knew they weren't real. She knew it, ever since they started! But even then…
The men in the black suits pointed. Murderer!
"Have you taken Futaba to a doctor?"
"I wanted to, but she refused. Even when I had a doctor come, she locked herself away in her room. Since then, she's become what you'd call a shut-in. She won't take a single step outside the house, or even try to see other people."
She was sorry… She wanted to get better, but the idea of seeing someone, anyone that wasn't Sojiro…
Her heart began to speed up at the thought, and she felt sick.
"What about you?"
"She doesn't even let me come in her room."
"That's pretty harsh…"
"Futaba is, well, a unique girl. She's so quick-minded that conversations with her tend to jump from one topic to the next… It seems like she's always coming to conclusions in her head. There's a lot I don't get about her…"
"Hmm…"
"So, yeah. Her situation is why I couldn't let you in my house, Starr."
"I understand completely. I told you I didn't think you were a bad guy."
"What Futaba needs is a safe place where nobody will threaten her. Somewhere she can be at ease. That's why I won't do anything she doesn't want. I don't make her do anything she's unwilling to either. Then again, I know that's no way for her to live. It's all I can do though…"
"And what does Futaba want? Does she want to get better?"
Yes.
"I don't know. She just asks me for things she wants, like food or these complicated books. Well, that's that. So can you just… leave her be?"
"That's… hard to answer. I want to help her, Sakura. Just leaving her to suffer like this…"
"Right… Well, I'm gonna head back, then. You all had better head home soon too." The front door of Leblanc opened and closed as she heard the jingle of the bell over her bugs, and the Phantom Thieves were left to discuss what they'd learned about her. After several minutes of them talking more about those 'Palaces' and that she 'had one' even though she 'wasn't evil', a black cat suddenly shot past her feet and out of her room, causing her to shriek in surprise.
What the hell?!
Ω • Ω • Ω
? ? ?
•Akira•
"Futaba Sakura… She had one of these 'Palaces'?" His head throbbed as he nodded at Niijima's question. "Hold on. While Medjed was targeting you, you chose to deal with someone completely unrelated to them?"
"They were an unseen enemy," he replied hoarsely.
"I see… From how you've described it, your usual methods wouldn't have worked, and you wouldn't have wanted…" She shook her head. "What you've said about the Sakura family generally falls in line with our investigation. It appears you aren't feeding us a false testimony."
"Finally listening?" He smirked through the pain.
She smirked back at him. "Heh. If you're lucid enough for jabs, you can get back to your story. It's still unclear to us as to how the Phantom Thieves dealt with Medjed since their identity is unknown. If you tell me something coherent, I may be a little more willing to believe you."
Well, at least she was starting to seriously listen. He took a shuddering breath, and the sound of chains snapping was muted through his foggy head.
RANK UP!
Judgement Arcana, Prosecutor: Rank 2
"Still, to think the Phantom Thieves would have their hideout in the home of Wakaba Isshiki's daughter. What a coincidence. No, perhaps it's fate… Regardless, we don't have time to waste. Continue with your story."
"I feel like it's already been two days in here, but sure…" And so, he continued.
Ω • Ω • Ω
7/25, Monday
It had been difficult to sleep after learning what they had the day prior, along with the deadline hanging overhead like a guillotine. It seemed Futaba's mother truly loved her from how Sakura had described her, but then what had led to her suicide? And why was Futaba seeing apparitions of her? Was it the trauma of seeing her mother kill herself?
If he saw a family member do that right in front of him when he was that young…
Either way. They had confirmation that Futaba had a Palace. Now they just needed to figure out what she saw her house as… As soon as the assembly was over, of course.
There was nothing more important than getting into that Palace right now.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Ann•
"You know what I heard? The student council president is dating Starr!"
Her ears perked up as she overheard the voices of some girls in their class even as an odd heaviness settled into her stomach, all of them ignoring Kobayakawa as he droned on and on. This was extremely important information!
"Wait, but I heard he was dating Takamaki-san!"
"I got this directly from Eiko-senpai! They're totes dating. He's probably cheating on Takamaki…" Her eyes widened and heart pounded at that info.
"Wow, he's real scummy…"
They continued whispering. Well, if their barely lowered voices could be considered whispers. She wouldn't be surprised if everyone standing around their class in the gymnasium could hear them.
Still, Akira was dating Makoto? That was… Hm. Not as much of a surprise as she expected, actually… They seemed to get along well, and they had similar personalities. Makoto had been pretty quickly made second-in-command of their group after all. Honestly, their interactions in the Metaverse reminded her a lot of a mother and father trying to wrangle their children.
Hearing her heart thud loudly inside her, she took a breath to try and calm down. Why was this getting to her so much? It was just some gossip at this point, it likely wasn't even true, and who cared if Akira and Makoto started dating? Both of them could date who they wanted. She just… hadn't expected them to get together so quickly.
Wait, no! She had to remind herself that it was just gossip. Again. It wasn't like it was confirmed or anything. But he hadn't spent all that much time with her recently… Their da— Er, their hang-out at the Skytree was the only thing they'd done just the two of them for a while… Maybe he'd been spending more time with Makoto after they'd taken down Kaneshiro?
Maybe he'd wanted to get to know their newest team member better. Which led to them spending time together. Which led to them dating. Which would lead to them eloping and running off and—!
No! Gossip! It was just! Gossip!
She was falling into the trap that had been part of the reason that she despised her time at Shujin for so long. People gossiping about everything, and believing the rumors outright. Well, she wasn't going to be one of those people, no way in hell!
She would confirm if the rumors were true or false herself! If they were true, then good for them! If they weren't, then that was perfect! Why was it perfect? She didn't know, but she was hoping it was the case!
Akira was standing a few people over, his eyes glazed as he stared at the stage, not really seeing it as he talked with his Personas, bored out of his mind as Morgana snored in his bag, the students around them fighting the urge to stare at the furry head. She thought she could even see Akira about to start drooling like he was going to fall asleep on the spot. She bit back giggles at the adorable sight.
She slinked through the crowd, most people ignoring her as they all just talked with their friends and ignored Kobayakawa's droning, before tapping Akira on the shoulder. Jumping in shock, he held a hand over his heart as he stared at her wide-eyed. "Hey!"
"Fu— Give a guy some warning next time!"
She laughed at his reaction. "Your Personas didn't tell you I was coming over?"
He paused. "Arsène just told me that it was funny to see my surprise. Dick."
"Aw, don't talk about yourself that way!" He gave her a deadpan glare, but his lips twitched and hinted at his amusement. "Anyway, I wanted to ask about some rumors I heard! You're dating Makoto? That was quick, you player!"
"Rumors are already spreading about that?" Akira asked, surprised. Her eyes widened and she felt a cold stab through the heart, but forced herself to smile. Well, good for them! It was nice that they'd— "We did nothing at all to act like a couple and Eiko gets it in her head that we're dating… She even ignored Makoto and I when we outright told her that we weren't," he laughed.
She felt relief and warmth, and her smile was no longer forced. "Well, too bad for you but I'm willing to bet everyone is going to be talking about your new 'girlfriend.'"
"We're about to start summer vacation, do you think everyone will forget by the time we get back?"
"If you're lucky," she laughed. They continued to joke as they ignored the assembly like every other student in the room, and she basked in the giddy feeling that filled her chest, ignoring the reason why it was there. That was a can of worms she didn't want to open at the moment.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
Following the assembly, he had everyone meet at Leblanc, where they walked up to his room and set up the table to sit around. Discussing their situation over snacks and drinks, they went over what they knew, with Morgana reiterating that a Palace was simply materialized distorted cognitions brought about by strong desires. While that meant that a lot of evil people would be warped enough to form one, it didn't mean you had to be evil to have one, just like Futaba.
After theorizing that the distortions in her heart could have warped her memories and given her the auditory and visual hallucinations she was experiencing, they unanimously agreed to steal Futaba's heart and heal her.
Akira stood up as his friends gathered their things and cleaned up the room. As they descended the stairs to walk over to Futaba's house, he noticed a contemplative expression on Morgana's face. "Important memories, huh?"
"Thinking about your own?" He asked sympathetically.
Morgana's tail flicked back and forth, and he was close enough to Morgana that he was able to recognize it as uncertainty. "I'll be able to remember everything if I turn back into a human, right?"
Aw, poor Magician, Nekomata mewled. Cheer him up!
"I'm sure you will," he assured even though he wasn't certain at all.
"Yeah… That has to be the case. I… Definitely want this mission to succeed. If we can retrieve Futaba's memories, then I'd bet that we can get mine back too…" Morgana shook his head. "A-Anyway, it's not every day you stumble upon a hacker like her around. You really do have a gift, don't you?"
"Who knows? Perhaps it's fate," he chuckled.
"You sure do live up to my expectations," Morgana laughed along. He grinned as he felt Morgana's resolve, and pet him between the ears, ignoring his half-hearted mews of protest.
RANK UP!
Magician Arcana, Morgana: Rank 6
"Hey, they went ahead without us! Let's hurry and catch up to them!"
Ω • Ω • Ω
"You're listening, right, Alibaba?"
He expected to receive no response once more to Makoto's question as they stood outside Futaba's door. They'd made multiple attempts to fill in the final keyword to enter her Palace, but none worked, whether they be hell, an oasis, a jail… In the end, they decided to enter the house and ask Futaba directly. She didn't respond, no matter how much they knocked on the door to her room, ignroing the yellow 'caution!' tape draped across it as decoration, and 'Private! Do not enter!' sign.
However, that question seemed to have been the catalyst.
Alibaba— Why are you here?
"Why's she only reacting to that name?" Morgana questioned.
He didn't have an answer, so he nodded at Makoto. She nodded back, and turned to the door. "You're Futaba Sakura, aren't you?"
…
"She's not responding again," Yusuke rolled his shoulder.
"Does she not like us saying her name?" Ann suggested.
"We don't have time to dally around. We need her keyword before dealing with Alibaba's identity."
Makoto thought for a moment. "We want to learn more about you. If we don't do so, we can't steal your heart. The reason we came here is because we need the keyword to enter your Palace. That's why we want to talk with Futaba Sakura herself, not Alibaba."
"...Still no response," he reported.
"You don't have to show yourself. Just answer some questions for us. Chat messages are fine."
His phone buzzed.
Alibaba— OK
"All right then… Our leader, the guy who lives in Leblanc's attic, wants to speak to you."
"Wow, just passing me the buck?" he asked with a half-grin.
She just smiled back. "You're the one who's so much better at talking, aren't you? We're counting on you, Akira-kun. Try and get a keyword out of her."
"Touché." He stepped up to the door as Makoto gave him some space.
Alibaba— What do you want to hear?
That was the question, wasn't it… If he asked her what she saw the house as, she might just answer 'a house.' Might as well try and see what she felt about it, and to find out what the house was, he needed to narrow down the answers. If she saw it as something good or bad, depended on her answer to… "How is living in this house?"
Alibaba— It's painful.
Well… Then this house certainly couldn't be anything like 'heaven', or 'paradise'. "Why don't you go out?" Depending on that answer, it could mean she saw the place as something inescapable like a prison, or a painful place that she could get free from—
Alibaba— I can't leave this place.
Alibaba— I'm going to die here.
"Wha— Die?!" He frowned at his phone, ignoring Ann's horror.
Alibaba— Is this going to continue?
"Why do you think that, Futaba?" He asked softly.
Alibaba— Why?
He heard shuffling through Futaba's door. She didn't answer for a moment. His hand tightened on his phone.
Alibaba— This place is my tomb.
Tomb.
Oh, this poor girl, Principality murmured. Truly, the Lord's work must be done to save her!
"Tomb?" Makoto echoed.
"You think that's it?" Ryuji asked.
"Try entering it," Morgana meowed.
He did so with numb fingers, mind whirling at the young girl's depressed view of the world. "Input accepted. Searching for route to destination."
"We got it!"
Alibaba— Was that enough?
"Yes, it was plenty," Makoto spoke. "You haven't forgotten your promise of helping us if we complete your request, right?"
Alibaba— I haven't. We made a deal.
Ryuji grinned and stepped away from the wall he was leaning against. "Well then, let's hurry up and go. Aaaand, clicky."
With the push of the button, the world began warping, while Morgana's eyes widened. "You idiot! Don't activate it here!"
Akira blinked, as one moment he stood in the dark halls of Sakura's house, and the next they stood on sand dunes while the harsh sun beat down on them, already beginning to sweat. Yusuke looked around, crossing his arms as he observed the endless sands. "It's a desert."
"Yeah, we see that," Ryuji sighed. "Wait, what the— Our clothes are still the same?
"Futaba herself asked us to steal her heart. It'd be odd if she saw us as a threat," Morgana explained, now in his chibi Metaverse form. If she doesn't see us as an enemy, then your clothes don't change. That's how it works. But more importantly, I told you to be cautious! Why'd you activate it like that?!"
"Is that why we ended up in a desert? Where's the tomb? It's so damn hot here."
"Ryuji!" He grabbed his friend by the collar and glared at him. "Don't ignore Morgana, because he's right! We were right outside Futaba's room! Ann was several feet away when we accidentally dragged her in back when we first started, what the hell do you think would have happened if we dragged her in here?!"
"W-Well, it wouldn't be that bad, right? I mean, she already knows some crap about what we're doing, we could just send her back and explain after we changed her heart!"
"Every time I try and defend you and say that you're not a complete idiot, you do something like this!" He poked Ryuji in the chest. "She's a shut-in! Don't you remember everything Sakura explained just yesterday? How she struggled to even interact with us through her door and text messages?! If she was suddenly dragged to an unknown place, face to face with a bunch of unknown teenagers, she could have had a complete breakdown or panic attack! Think for once, Ryuji!"
"Akira is right, Ryuji," Makoto agreed. "That could have been disastrous."
"A-Alright, sheesh… I'm sorry!" Ryuji looked away, his face flushing red in embarrassment. He let go of Ryuji's collar and sighed in frustration. "Seriously, sorry…"
Ann cleared her throat, stepping between the two of them and trying to end the awkward air between everyone. "Well, if he's sorry, then we can leave it at that. Anyway, even though we entered right in front of her room, we didn't end up inside the… Tomb, right?"
"She must really want to keep people away from her."
Ann sighed. "I see…"
Makoto looked around. "What a bleak feeling this place has… It's the complete opposite of Kaneshiro's bank."
"It's scorchin', let's hurry up and get goin'. Where's the Palace?"
"Is it that way?" In the direction Morgana pointed, far off over the dunes he could see the sun glinting off of something that rose high into the sky.
"Oh yeah, there's somethin' shiny…"
Makoto clenched her fists. "A tomb in the desert… I see. Anyway, let's make our way there."
"Isn't it… kinda far?"
Ryuji looked at Ann wide-eyed. "Are we gonna walk?!"
"Of course not! My paws will get burned!" Morgana hopped forward and transformed into the Mona Mobile.
"And your tires won't?" Akira muttered to himself.
"Ah, I've been waiting for this!" The Emperor exclaimed.
"I'll make sure to put the AC on full blast!"
"You're so considerate!"
"Hehe, r-right…"
He rolled his eyes at Morgana's embarrassed giggles, while Ryuji pumped his fist. "All right, let's roll!" The boys piled in the back, Makoto taking the driver seat since she was the oldest and there weren't any Shadows around. Once everyone was buckled in, she hit the gas and they were off.
Ω • Ω • Ω
It was stifling. Before when they were out in the hot desert air it was bad enough, but now they were sitting inside Morgana's bus form and even the air conditioning wasn't enough to stop the muggy heat.
He rested his head against the seat behind him, Ryuji and Yusuke both practically passed out. He heard Makoto shuffle around in the front seat, not even paying attention to the sand ahead of them, too exhausted as she rested her head on the steering wheel.
"It's stuffy…"
"Yes, I know… But it still beats opening the windows to the hot desert air… Hey Ann, can I have a drink? Didn't you have some mineral water…?"
"No, I drank it… sorry…"
Damnit, now he wanted to drink some water too…
Ryuji shuffled next to him, and he peeked a weary open to see what he was doing. The faux-blond was, for some reason, standing up and staring over into the front seats. He watched his friend for a few moments, debating if he was too tired to deal with whatever was happening, before sighing and getting up. He glanced over the seat alongside Ryuji to see what was so eye-catching—
Huh, nice view.
Oh, he was staring down her shirt. Ann, in her flustered state, was trying to fan herself using the collar of her shirt, giving them boys a clear view of her bra and—
Akira cut the thought off. He really should grab Ryuji by the ear and drag him back. Though, that would be pretty hypocritical considering every time he'd stared at Panther's front and back whenever they were in the Metaverse…
"How are the guys…?" Ann turned to look back after Makoto's question, and caught Ryuji staring down at her with a wide-eyed and open-mouthed expression, saw him also staring with a blank face, and Yusuke… Well, he wasn't sure what Yusuke was doing.
There was a few moments of silence where no one said anything, and as his mind raced to find some way out of the situation, he eventually just shrugged and decided to bite the bullet. "Nice necklace."
"Take this!" Ann grabbed the lever that controlled how far the front bench reclined back and pulled, causing it to crash back into Yusuke, Ryuji, and himself.
"MROOOOWGH! Knock it off back there!" He groaned as he banged his head against the back window, while Ryuji ended up lying on the ground with his legs in the air and Yusuke lay against the door in pain.
"Morons," he heard Ann mutter As he rubbed his head and groaned, pushing the front seat back into position.
"Oh, is that it?" Yusuke asked, suddenly pushing his face into the front seat. His words caught everyone's attention and they followed his gaze, finally able to see the pyramid they were approaching in its full glory.
He grinned, forgetting the pain as he sat up straight. "Game faces, everyone! Here we go!"
Ω • Ω • Ω
His enthusiasm drained as soon as they parked and Morgana transformed back into chibi form, exposing them to the intense, dry heat. Everyone groaned, Ann wavering on her feet. "It's so hot…"
"That AC wasn't workin' at all! What the hell was that lukewarm air about?!"
"That was the best I could do, so quit your yapping!"
"For real, you are so half-assed!"
"What was that?! You wanna fight, punk?!"
He was about to step in to stop the fight before Ann grabbed Ryuji by the back of the collar and dragged him away from Morgana. "Geez, shut up! It's hot, so don't make me more irritated!"
"To think her Palace would be a pyramid," Makoto spoke as she ignored everything going on behind her.
"Her mindset truly is…" He bit back the remainder of his thoughts.
"Hey, a pyramid's a tomb, right?"
Yusuke nodded at Ryuji. "Correct. It's a pharaoh's tomb."
"That's how it's most widely known," Makoto agreed. "There are a variety of theories on it. For instance, it's even said to be a device for reviving the dead."
"Some idiots even believe aliens built them," he snorted as he began ascending the stairs to the front entrance. "As if aliens had anything to do with the pyramids."
"Reviving the dead, hm?" Yusuke trailed off, before smiling as he framed the pyramid between his fingers. "It's beautiful nonetheless… It's perfectly conformed to the golden ratio…"
Ryuji sighed and began pushing Yusuke up the stairs after him. "Hey guys, can we go in already? I'm gonna melt…"
Several pillars were on either side of the staircase up, covered in hieroglyphs. The front doors as well were covered in symbols, but many of them were also English symbols. He saw the paragraph mark, the sign for euros, mathematical fractions, and directly above the door was something that looked similar to the Eye of Horus.
"Everyone get ready. We're going in." He shoved the doors open and immediately was shocked by the rush of cool air. "Whoa." He had been expecting it to be cooler, but it was surprising just how much cooler it was. Walking inside, he noticed that the various blocks making up the corridor around them had binary etched into them, periodically glowing bright green while holograms randomly popped into existence every once in a while.
"Whoa, it's so nice in here!" Ryuji laughed and stretched. "Is this place air-conditioned or somethin'?!"
"It may be because Futaba's room in reality has AC pumping through it. Either way, this is a relief…"
Ann looked down at herself. "Huh, our clothes still haven't changed even now. That's never happened to us before…"
"It is refreshing that she doesn't see us as a threat… But we are surrounded by walls."
"Claustrophobic?" He asked Yusuke with a grin.
"I guess it makes sense in a tomb… It's probably not made to be easy to get into. Anyway, let's explore!" Morgana hopped forward and he followed behind, observing the grand corridor before them. They had to hop across a few pillars where the floor ahead of them was broken, and following that was a massive staircase, which looked like it went up to the top of the pyramid.
"Wow, that goes pretty far…"
"There's way too goddamn many…"
"Don't ask for too much," Morgana sighed. You should be happy we're not being attacked as we ascend. More importantly, I can totally sense the Treasure ahead! We're really close to it!"
"The stairs seem to ascend to the heart of the pyramid. I wonder if that's where the Treasure awaits…"
"It's pretty straightforward," he agreed with Makoto. "But perhaps that's because Futaba wants her heart stolen."
"Welp, time to get climbin' then. Let's go!" They began the ascent, observing the sarcophagus and blue-yellow torches that periodically lined the sides of the great staircase. "But man, no enemies? I'm all for shit like this!"
Ann threaded her fingers together behind her back. "Do you think it's because she's not a criminal?"
"I suppose she did welcome us in, after all."
"Don't let your guard down," Makoto warned. "This is a classic pyramid, possibly complete with deadly traps."
He observed some gated off doors, while Yusuke smiled in contentment. "So this is the mystique of a bygone era… The real thing surpasses any picture."
"I… Don't think you can actually call this the 'real thing'."
Ryuji nudged him with a grin. "Looks like this'll be our easiest job yet!"
He was about to answer before he noticed something— someone ahead. Standing at the very top of the staircase was a red-headed young girl. She wore Egyptian garb, a snake headband, wrappings around her chest that left her stomach bare and went up to her neck, on which a decorative piece sat, golden bangles on her tiny biceps and wrists, and a long white dress that started at her hips and went down to her feet. The only thing that didn't fit was the glasses on her face, covering the golden eyes every Shadow had.
"Hey, is this…?" He understood Ryuji's question. None of them had met Futaba or knew what she looked like. So it could have been her Shadow or a cognition of someone she knew.
Thankfully, Morgana could confirm it after his little mission where he snuck into her room. "Yeah, that's Futaba's Shadow."
"Oh right, you've seen her face… Huh… Guess this one's kinda dressed like a queen…"
"You mean a pharaoh," he rolled his eyes.
"Eff off."
Makoto, wisely, ignored them. "So you're Futaba Sakura…"
"..." He noticed that her eyes seemed to have dark circles beneath them.
"Hey, where's the Treasure?"
"..." Futaba's Shadow ignored Ryuji.
"It's doubtful that you wouldn't know where it is," Makoto raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, say somethin'," Ryuji spoke as he stepped closer.
"Don't be like that!" Ann stepped up and dragged him a step back. "I'm sorry, Futaba-chan. It's okay, there's no need to be scared. So, can you tell me where your most treasured possession is?"
"..."
"This is going nowhere," Yusuke sighed.
"Let's just leave her," Ryuji suggested. He supposed that he had a point. Futaba wanted them to steal the Treasure, if her Shadow wasn't going to be helpful, they could just walk past her and continue towards the end of the staircase. It was in sight after all, behind some weird glass doorway.
"Will you guys just shut up for a bit?!"
Then, her Shadow finally spoke. "Those who plunder my tomb. Why have you come?"
"She talked! But…"
Ryuji scoffed. "What're you sayin'? You want us to steal it, right?"
"If you believe you can steal it, then try as you might."
"That's rather defiant sounding," Morgana noted with narrowed eyes.
"Perhaps this is that 'tsundere' thing where someone is harsh or sweet depending on the mood."
"Yusuke, no…"
"Considering the state that my Palace is in, there is no way you can steal it."
CREEPY CHILD!
YOU KILLED HER!
YOU'RE A PLAGUE!
"What are these voices?" Yusuke questioned.
As the Phantom Thieves looked around, trying to find the source of them, he noticed Futaba's Shadow falling to her knees and clutching her head between her hands, as if in pain.
MURDERER!
WHY DON'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?!
"Murderer?"
YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED HER!
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!
Ann almost looked like she was going to cry as the voices continued to scream at an unknown person… Though, as Akira continued to stare at Futaba's Shadow, he figured he knew just who was the target of their ire. "This is horrible…"
"Hey, the hell is this?"
DON'T COME NEAR ME!
DON'T JUST STAND THERE, SAY SOMETHING!
IT'S YOUR FAULT!
Futaba's Shadow became translucent and floated into the air. "That's right. I did it."
Ryuji, as always, seemed very confused. "What?"
"I am the one who killed my mother."
"That's not what Sakura told us," he challenged her. Before she could say anything, an inhuman screech caused the pyramid to shake, and sand to rain down from above.
"What was that?!"
"My mother exists here," Futaba spoke cryptically. "I will remain here. I will do so until I die." With that, she disappeared, and blue flames erupted around all of them. Within moments they were dressed in their thief attire,
"Our clothes!"
Fox dropped into a battle-ready stance. "She sees us as a threat now?! What's going on?!"
The pyramid rumbled.
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Alibaba•
…?
Something was off. Oh.
She tucked her feet beneath her and clenched her hands onto her headphones, trying to force them tighter over her ears. But it never worked to block out their voices. "This… Again…"
CREEPY CHILD!
YOU KILLED HER!
YOU'RE A PLAGUE!
WHAT'S WITH THAT LOOK?!
MURDERER!
WHY DON'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?!
YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KILLED HER!
"That's right…" She squeezed her eyes closed. She couldn't run from the truth. "I killed mom. I don't deserve to be alive… This place is a tomb, and I'll die here…"
THAT'S RIGHT! DIE!
DON'T COME NEAR ME!
DON'T JUST STAND THERE, SAY SOMETHING!
IT'S YOUR FAULT!
"No! Someone help me…" She shivered and shrunk in on herself.
She deserved to die.
She wanted to live.
She wanted to die.
She deserved to live.
Futaba Sakura sobbed, alone but for the voices that screamed at her, and her mother who stared daggers at her killer.
Wow, what a happy ending to a chapter.
This went on longer than I expected, probably because I had too much fun writing the house infiltration. I wonder how Makoto will eventually react to the knowledge that ghosts are real and the Chosen Four had to beat them up? Probably not well.
Writing Sojiro telling everyone Futaba's backstory while she listens through Leblanc's bugs was fun. Especially writing in the blocks to show just how fucked she is in the head, where she can't even comprehend that her mother may have loved her.
Another Judgement rank, as well as Magician. Plus Ann overhears that Akira's 'dating' Makoto, and immediately tries to find out how true that rumor is. She knows not to blindly trust rumors after all lol.
But anyway, let me know what you think of the chapter, or just leave a 'nice,' both are always great to read. See y'all next time!