Another month, another chapter! Hope you guys haven't forgotten about me. University finals are upcoming, so I wanted to get a chapter out before I spend the next two weeks studying and suffering, hope you guys wish me luck. We're continuing the FORMULA Arc, it's original, and canon has been completely shit on, so I hope I'm doing a good job at my own original work. I'm nearly at 200 Follows which is insane to me! Thank you to everyone who has left a follow, it means a lot to me.

Guest: But did you notice that Ren refused to attack? He was caught off guard and that definitely could've ended him, but he wasn't trying either...

FFVSKH: For now, no, but I do have future plans for them.

craytherlay: Glad you pointed this out! Definitely a bit of foreshadowing.

Masifiy: Thanks! Giving callbacks to Ren's life back on his world definitely makes him feel more human.

Blankow: Yup, this is something that defies all conventional laws. Kakine will have to be persuaded, so Ren will need to do some more talk-no-jutsu. For the big enemy encounters? We shall see.

HelixPenn: Stop shitting on me in spirit, you do it enough with your comments :(
Dialogue definitely is a weak point for me, I'm still improving and looking at different ways to write. Ren and Accelerator's conversation wasn't heard, only the last part about heroism, that's why he wanted to walk off. Also, Misaka DID NOT accept Accelerator's apology for the Sister, she was merely grateful that he took back he remark, nothing more. I do struggle to write Accel a bit though, so I understand where you're coming from.

Wendel Santana: Of course! If you keep asking, I'll keep writing!

Caesar zeppeli: It's definitely a fast-paced fic, but I write it like that because I don't want people to just be rereading Index and feel like everything is just a drag. I will take your words to heart though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5 Royal or Toaru Majutsu no Index.

Ren and Kakine had stepped out of the classroom as the former had something important he wanted to discuss. Ren was trying his best to build a new group in this world. He wasn't sure if he did that because of homesickness or just wanted a bit of nostalgia. He held everyone in his original crew dear, but this world had a different group, made out of the worthy people he formed a bond with. There were no stronger people than the Level 5's in the Academy City, to his knowledge at least. There could've been god-like magicians, but his connections on the Magic side were only limited to Index. Necessarius would be a good place to begin as any, but he was waiting for them to approach him as he didn't want to force them into having a conversation.

This brought him to get as many Espers as he could. He had recruited three out of the seven Level 5's, only missing the number two, four, and five. The sixth seemed to not exist, so Ren excluded them from the list. From his research, Shizuri Mugino seemed to be a part of the dark side of the city and was probably too unhinged to become a part of the group without a change of heart. Misaki Shokuhou went to Mikoto's school and could prove useful to stop fights before they began, But Ren wasn't too sure how much he could trust her and there was no guarantee her mind tricks would work on any of his friends. Kakine was 'convinced' that he was no longer the sinister person he used to be. He even went as far as to become a teacher's assistant, to Ren's amusement. Ren could still see Kamijou's surprised face.

'I do wonder how the others would react if Kakine joins the group…' thought Ren, hand on his chin.

"So what was the matter you wished to discuss, dear 'student'?" Kakine started.

"Well dear 'teacher', you're a Level 5 Esper right?" Ren asked while pushing up his glasses. "What are you doing at a random high school, when you could be doing so much more?"

The sand-blond boy stared at the ground for a bit. From the looks of it, he was contemplating an answer but didn't know the correct words to say.

"I honestly... don't have an answer for that," Kakine said with a downtrodden tone. "I just woke up one day and whenever I saw someone in need, I had to help. I can't comprehend this feeling... Like I used to do bad stuff, but there are gaps in my memory that make me unsure if I really wanted to do them myself."

Ren was now sure that Kakine no longer had any memory of any wrongdoings. It was strange, in Shibuya, none of the change of heart victims lost their memory. They would only feel tremendous guilt and confess their crimes themselves.

Kakine's case was different. Could it be that the altered brain of an Esper caused memory loss? Again, Ren felt the questions pouring down on him with no one to answer him.

"Could it be amnesia?" Ren asked while grabbing his chin.

"Maybe? I feel like I've lived two different lives. One where I've wanted to help people, and another where I was… the scum of the earth."

"Scum of the earth? Why do you think you were?"

"It all feels like a bad dream, but sometimes it feels like I can see myself brutally beating people up for little to no reason." Kakine answered while looking away in shame.

"But you have no way to confirm if any of that is true?"

"I don't…" Kakine said, making a difficult face towards the ground again.

"Are you familiar with the group FORMULA?" Ren asked.

"That's it!" Kakine said in surprise. "I've heard that constantly in my dreams, but I never knew what it meant…"

"They're a group of people whose goal it is to create divine beings on the planet," Ren said. "To be honest, you were a part of them and I was the one who stopped you."

Kakine nodded as he was listening attentively.

"Thank you for that," Kakine said gracefully. "I've always been on the ropes about it, confused and disoriented. I know what I want to do now."

"You want to protect people?"

"I feel like someone with my power should be able to protect and defend the people of the city," Kakine said. "Saving people is my number one priority."

"I'm glad to hear you say that," Ren said with a smile. "It makes me all the more sure that both of us won't regret what I want to tell you."

"I am still waiting for you to speak on this matter. In all honesty, I am getting somewhat nervous."

"Let me start off by saying this," Ren said, straightening his posture. "What do you know of my ability?"

"Do you mean a lack thereof?" Kakine said, crossing his arms. "I was given a list of every student and their ability and yours said you were a Level 0, and I don't mean that in an offensive way."

"What if I told you they were wrong?"

Ren stuck his arm out and formed a pistol hand and allowed Curse energy condense on the tip of his finger. Kakine's eyes widened and eventually, he let out a smile and relaxed his body. Ren put his hand down and let out a smile.

"So you're telling me that you've managed to trick the world's most advanced city into thinking you have no power?" Kakine said with a hint of interest.

'I guess he really did lose his memories.' thought Ren.

"I'm leading a group of people to help me get rid of a certain evil in Academy City, and someone of your caliber would greatly improve our chances of succeeding. I know I'm asking a lot, but I would greatly appreciate your help."

Kakine looked like he was in a serious train of thought. Ren knew that he was asking a lot of him, and there was always the possibility he would say no. The new Phantom Thieves were beginning to seem like a necessity due to FORMULA and the sheer threat they possessed to innocent people.

For all they knew, FORMULA could be a global organization. Ren had yet to leave Academy City and didn't really feel the need to leave the city unless FORMULA did operate outside of it. There were some implications in the file back from the Daihasei that there were some groups out of the country.

"If I agree to this," Kakine said, snapping Ren out of his thoughts. "Can you guarantee that I can save more people?"

"I can," Ren responded with no hesitation. "You have my word."

"Can you really promise that we won't abuse our powers for our own gain?"

"I promise."

"...You're a rather odd one, aren't you? And that's saying something, coming from me. You're the first one I've seen willing to go this far, just to save people you don't even know..."

Ren hearing Kakine's words reminded him of his friends back home. It felt like nearly every day they would talk about never getting recognition for everything they did for society. It was never about being famous to Ren. Back then he had been on the end of police brutality and against a huge conspiracy that threatened the entire people of Japan. He could've easily turned out to be an evil person after obtaining his powers.

"It's the right thing to do," Ren said with a sharp look in his eyes. "We do this to protect the weak. If the strong are abusing their power for self-gain, then it's our job to put them in their place and give hope to the weak. I believe that people become more themselves if you give them power, so it only further proves the evil's of society from those who have authority. You said that my determination is strange, but I think it's perfectly normal."

Kakine had an enlightened look on his face. It took him a second, but he soon started to laugh in amusement.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh," Kakine said, wiping a tear from his eye. "That response was something so incredibly naive it made me laugh, but it was also the response I was hoping for."

"So... I take it that means you're in?"

Kakine took a bit to settle down after his fit of laughter. He regained his composure and his serious look returned.

"What can I say except you've convinced me Amamiya. Just…" Kakine paused for a moment. "Not now, I'm grateful for the offer and would really love to take you up on it, but I need to find myself at the moment. I need to balance my life and I'm afraid that I'll throw everyone off balance with my presence right now. I'm sorry I pestered you with questions earlier, but I just wanted to know your determination. You really do give damn good speeches."

"I learned how to give speeches from the best." Ren said, smiling as he was reminded of Yoshida.

Kakine extended his hand, and Ren did the same. They gave each other a firm handshake and a smile.

"Although I don't know what I'm getting into, I'm sure I'll be glad to be a part of this," Kakine said. "I hope I don't keep you waiting. I am looking forward to meeting everyone sooner or later though."

"I'm sure they're all dying... to meet you too."

Ren was about to turn around and wanted to head back to class.

"One more thing Amamiya." Kakine said in a firm tone.

"Yes?"

"Does your little group happen to have a name?"

Ren let out a small smile. He had considered giving them a new name, but he couldn't help but always think of the name of his group back home.

"It does."

There was a small bit of silence as Ren turned around again and continued walking. Ren knew that Kakine would be dying of curiosity.

"Well do you care to tell me what it is?" Kakine said, raising his voice.

Ren stopped in his tracks but continued to face away from Kakine.

"The Phantom Thieves."

After school let out, Touma and Ren found themselves walking back home as both boys only really wanted to lie down in bed all day and laze around. Touma looked exhausted and Ren couldn't really blame the spiky-haired boy. If it wasn't fighting rogue Espers or Magicians, he always had a gluttonous teenager waiting for him back home. A teenager that also expected Touma to feed her. Ren had tried helping the poor boy out, but there was only so much both boys could do to feed the black hole that was Index's stomach.

Both boys had been relatively quiet during their walk back home. Going home together had been a routine, and although Tsuchimikado was their neighbor as well, he always seemed to be off doing his own thing.

It took a while, but Touma finally decided to break the silence with a question.

"So... what did you talk to Kakine about?" Touma asked with a suspicious tone. "Don't tell me you're trying to get Accelerator as a classmate too."

"I merely had a proposition for him," Ren responded. "His power could be useful on our side."

"You're not wrong…" Touma said, his chin lying on his hand.

"Whatever the case, he said his number one priority is to protect people now. He could be a useful addition to the Phantom Thieves."

Touma seemed to be lost in thought when the last two words snapped him back to reality. He pondered for a moment and finally found the words to say.

"Wait what? The Phantom Thieves? Also, since when are we some kind of secret organization?"

"Well, don't you like it? We steal the rotten desires of people who abuse others, and we do so in the shadow with our involvement never being found out. Phantom Thieves seems fitting, don't you think?"

"If you put it that way, it does seem fitting. But it kind of came out of nowhere… Oh well, does that make me a Phantom Thief then?."

"That's the spirit!" Ren shouted.

Ren let out a small smile as Touma was accepting of the Phantom Thieves name. As the boys continued to walk his Third Eye kicked in and gave him an immense feeling of dread. His smile was instantly wiped off of his face the moment he felt it. Whoever was scared, Ren could tell it was someone he had formed a bond with before. He couldn't however figure out who it was. Last Order? Mikoto? No one else really came to mind at the moment, but one thing was sure. He or she was in utter fear.

"Kami-yan! Amami-yan! Over here!"

A voice not so far in the distance could be heard, and both Ren and Touma turned their attention to the loud yell.

In the distance, Tsuchimikado was running towards them trying his best to get their attention.

"Tsuchimikado? What's wrong?" Touma asked while startled by a distressed Tsuchimikado.

The blond-haired boy was bloody and battered, but at least his Esper ability seemed to be at work on his wounds. His clothes were ripped and he looked incredibly wobbly, it was a miracle that he had the strength to even get to them.

Ren didn't hesitate to cast a DIarahan spell on their fellow classmate.

"It's Index! Someone kidnapped her!"

"What!?" Ren and Touma said simultaneously.

Ren clenched his fist and cursed himself for not being able to figure it out sooner. Why had his Third Eye only just now alert him?

"I tried to stop the person who took her but they just threw me around like a rag doll." Tsuchimikado looked beyond pissed.

"Where could they have taken her?" Ren said.

"We might have an idea, but we have to head to England now!"

"We? England? Why?" Touma asked in bewilderment.

"I'll explain on the way, but we have to go ASAP," Tsuchimikado looked like he was not joking around. "You too Amamiya, we're going to need your help. This is something everyone on the Magic side has been fearing."

"But why England?"

"Kanzaki and Stiyl are already there! They've been trying to gather information, and we were originally going to ask you to come in a couple of days, but the schedule got moved up."

Touma had a look of worry, but also of skepticism.

"This is happening way too fast. How could shit go south so quickly? Tell us exactly what happened!" Touma demanded, his worry turning into anger.

"Touma! Now's not the time!" Ren said. "Regardless of what has happened, Index has been kidnapped. We should save her first and ask questions later."

"Amamiya, this isn't the first time it's happened, and I doubt this would be the last attempt," Touma spoke as he clenched his fist. "But you're right, let's save her first. But I'll better get some damn questions after this one!"

As the boys got to a small airfield, they boarded a jet and Touma only continued to have a shocked look on his face as everything was already prepared to leave.

"Necessarius has been fearing this for quite some time," Tsuchimikado started. "And before you open your mouth Kami-yan, we didn't tell you because we didn't have enough information and we didn't want to burden you even more."

"That doesn't matter right now Tsuchimikado!" Touma shot back in annoyance. "You and Necessarius have always withheld information and now Index is targeted again!"

"And what should I have done?" Tsuchimikado countered. "If I told you everything, then would you stop going to school and stay with Index all day? Constantly be on the lookout because a possible attack might happen? Are you going to tell Index she can't live her life because you're scared something might happen? Do you think I want to tell my friend information that would make you two uneasy with every little danger that you might come across?"

"That may be right, but why did it go this far in this case? Tell us already what's happening!"

"Alright, let me explain the situation. A group called FORMULA is currently trying to create a god. We don't really know how they intend to do that, but we know for sure where their plan begins..."

So FORMULA was involved with Magic as well? Ren mentally slapped himself as he didn't couldn't think of the bigger picture.

"So, where does it begin?" Touma asked.

"Let's start with Index and her grimoires. The vast amount of knowledge she holds about magic would give them anything they need to know to create a god. I don't know how they plan to get the information out of her..."

Touma clenched his teeth and fist. How could he let something like this happen to her?

"The encounters I've had with FORMULA have only ever had Science side applications," Ren put forward. "Does that mean that both Magicians and scientific researchers are working together?"

"Well… that shouldn't be the case." Tsuchimikado scratched his head. "We've only seen Magicians be involved."

It seemed that they had even less information than they thought.

"Maybe with more information we can get the bigger picture," Ren said. "Keep telling us what you know."

"Right…" Tsuchimikado seemed to struggle a bit with the lag of information to work with. Judging from his character this probably almost never happened to him.

"We also have reason to believe they are targeting you specifically." Tsuchimikado finished, pointing his finger at Touma.

"Let me guess," Touma said, raising his right hand. "This?"

"Indeed," Tsuchimikado confirmed. "Our sources told us they were somewhere in England. We don't have the exact locations... but some information is better than none."

"So where exactly are we going now?" Ren asked while looking out of the window.

"We're going to be meeting up with Kanzaki and Stiyl. Kanzaki has been wanting to meet you Amami-yan after what Stiyl told her a while ago."

"Is that so? Hope I'm not in trouble."

"Ha! If only you knew Amami-yan. We're also meeting with some people from another group. They're from England and they said they wanted to work with us because of our joint interest."

Could this be related to the Ruin Igor and Lavenza were talking about? If so, failure could mean the end of this world. This all sounded similar to Yaldabaoth, but Ren couldn't help but feel like there was more to it.

"We're nearly there, I suggest that if you want to use the restroom, do it now."

Ren used this break to take a quick 'nap' and travel to the existence between dream and reality. He hoped that the Velvet Room would give him more answers, and he needed confirmation on the Ruin in this world.

As the unkempt-haired boy closed his eyes, he could feel himself being transported to the world in between. The familiar velvet colors somewhat blinded him, but they were incredibly welcome.

"So you've come to confirm something, haven't you Trickster?" Igor asked before Ren could even see him.

"Is this it?" Ren spoke quickly. "Is this the Ruin you were talking about?"

The silence that followed was beginning to drive Ren crazy. He was getting impatient, he needed to know if this was the final battle.

"Worry not Trickster," Igor said. "This is not the Ruin we have foreseen. Although, the danger this poses to you is… quite minuscule. Your Bonds on the other hand… are a different story. Your power is practically unrivaled by most in this world, but don't let arrogance be your downfall. There will come a time where someone of your caliber will come along, and you must be ready when that time comes."

"Don't worry my Trickster," Lavenza spoke up, her voice as soothing as ever. "You are already prepared for almost anything that comes your way. Now return to the real world, they await your presence to guide them out of the darkness."

Ren wasn't able to get a final word in as he was already back in the real world the moment Lavenza finished her sentence.

"Are you alright, Amamiya?" Touma asked, with a hint of worry in his voice. "You looked really out of it for a couple of seconds."

"I'm alright," Ren replied. "I just... needed to think about something."

"If you say so. We're about to land, I just hope that this new group will treat us well."

"I hope so too. If they don't, I might just have to transform into my thief outfit and give them a little scare." Ren grinned.

"Eh, please don't." Touma said with a look of dread.

As the plane landed, the boys saw that they were in the middle of a snow-covered forest with a small open area that led to a small cabin. The area was very well secluded, so their presence would be extremely hard to detect unless someone went out of their way to use some sort of magic to find their specific location.

"Oh shit!" Touma moaned. "We don't have any clothes for this type of weather!"

Tsuchimikado gave a small grunt and threw Touma a heavy coat and proceeded to throw another one at Ren. The dirty blond boy then got his own and put it on while pushing his sunglasses up.

"Come on Kami-yan, did you really think I was stupid enough to let us freeze?"

"I'm actually surprised you had anything in here considering how short notice this was."

As the plane landed, all three of the boys got off and began to follow Tsuchimikado as he led the way toward the cabin. The cold wind immediately slapped them which led to Ren summoning Allilat from within his soul to let his aura make all three of them immune to the cold.

"Thanks for that," Touma thanked, rubbing his hands together. "It really does seem like you're a Swiss army knife with all those abilities of yours."

"So these are the guys we were waiting for… Really?"

The voice belonged to a small girl with waist-length black hair with two blonde bangs. She sported a red, white, and blue jacket with a white undershirt and blue skirt. She also wore red and white thigh-high socks. Her most notable feature, to Ren at least, was the dragon-like tail she sported that was connected to something under her skirt...

"They're cute, I'll give them that, but they don't seem strong."

"Lessar enough," another girl sneered. "We're here to work with them, not disrespect them."

The other girl had short silvery hair and was considerably taller than the other girl. They appeared to have a matching motif which proved that both girls were a part of the same group.

She wore a white long sleeve sweater with a red collar, a blue skirt with matching blue tights, and had small horn-like accessories on her head.

Both girls appeared to be English from what Ren could tell, but their Japanese sounded incredibly good. From what Ren had heard from Tsuchimikado, Touma's English was more broken than a shattered snow globe. Ren had focused a lot on his studies and had perfected the language, but considering both girls spoke Japanese, he didn't see the need to speak English.

"Bayloupe! You at least have to agree the one with glasses is pretty damn hot!"

The girl, now identified as Bayloupe, rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the three boys.

"You're the ones we've been waiting for? Nice to meet you, I'm Bayloupe."

"Thanks for the polite greeting, I'm Ren Amamiya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm Touma Kamijou."

At this point, Tsuchimikado had gone off into another part of the cabin and left both the boys with the two girls in the living room. He always seemed to be sneaking around, but it didn't really bother anyone considering he was a spy in Academy City.

"We're waiting for Kanzaki and Stiyl to get back," the silver-haired girl informed. "It shouldn't take too long… In any case, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Ren said, observing both girls. "You don't have to answer, but what part of England are you girls from? And why do you want to help us?"

"We're located in London," the silver-haired girl replied. "Our group is called 'New Light', Lessar and myself make up half of the group. The other two members stayed back to take care of some leftover business. We've heard FORMULA wants to use England as the ground zero for their 'god' plan and I'll be damned if we let those nobodies ruin our homes."

"I get that," Touma chimed in. "They took someone close to us and we for sure will get her back."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Bayloupe responded. "I hope we get along. There is power in numbers after all."

Bayloupe gave a small smile and both Ren and Touma returned the gesture with a smile of their own. Lessar seemed to just be listening in the background and didn't cut into the conversation.

After their exchange, Ren went to take a seat as Touma followed behind him. Tsuchimikado was still in another room of the cabin which made both boys wonder what he was doing. Both New Light girls were talking to each other and Touma seemed to be exhausted as he slumped himself onto the couch and let out a large sigh.

"You tired?" Ren asked.

"Beyond belief," Touma said with a groan. "But I just need to get some rest before we go after Index. I can't help but feel like I'm the most tired teen on earth."

"I feel you. Ever since I got here, there hasn't been a day where nothing connected to the supernatural has happened." Ren slumped himself on the couch opposite Touma.

"You can tell how she feels right? You think she's alright?" Touma spoke quietly.

"She's scared, but she's doing fine. They haven't done anything to her... yet."

"Are you sure?" Touma asked while facing Ren. "How does it even work?"

"Well, my," Ren looked at Bayloupe and Lessar to make sure they weren't looking or listening. He flashed his eyes red and pointed to them and also lowered his voice to a whisper. "It lets me know what my friends feel. Considering how I'm not the closest with Index, I can barely make out what she's feeling. I just know that she's scared."

"Index is just an innocent girl who wants to live a peaceful life. So if they think they can get away with using her..." Touma said, clenching his fist. "I'll shatter all of their damn illusions!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Ren said calmly. "You're not alone, so we'll shatter their damn illusions together."

Touma had a blank look on his face when his lips eventually formed a smile.

"You're something else, you know that? To be honest, I've never told anyone else this… but I've always felt the need to do everything alone. I never wanted to drag anyone else along, but then you come along and put yourself in the middle of danger for people you hardly knew. At first, I didn't get it, but then I realized this was how it felt to be on the other end of such actions. I'm thankful for you, the things you've done for me, and those I care about."

Ren couldn't help but feel moved by Touma's words. The misfortunate boy was the epitome of good. Just like himself, he was an ordinary high school boy that did things because 'it's what anyone would do.' To everyone else, however, every fiber of Touma's being was that of a hero.

"Stop downplaying yourself," Ren said sharply. "It's depressing and you're ruining my mood."

Touma looked a bit confused because of Ren's tone.

"You are one of the best people I know, and you always seem to be selling yourself short."

"I…" Touma couldn't find any words.

"As your friend, I'm telling you, please stop thinking you are inferior or someone normal. You have the heart of a hero and I'm grateful to have met you."

Ren could see Touma's eyes watered slightly and he put his right arm over his face. He eventually had a big smile on his face.

"Thank you for that Amamiya."

As the black-haired boys finished their conversation, the door to the cabin opened and a beautiful Japanese girl with long black hair and a katana walked in, with the red-haired magician following right behind her. The black-haired girl had a white shirt that was tied at the bottom revealing her waist. She also wore a denim jacket over the shirt that had its right sleeve removed. Her jeans followed a similar style as the left pantsleg was cut short. She wore brown leather boots and her aura was ethereal. She was the definition of Japanese beauty.

"So you're both here. We have a lot to discuss. First though," the katana-wielding girl looked at Ren. "Amamiya right? I wish to speak with you privately for a minute."

The Japanese warrior and the bespeckled boy walked off into another section of the cabin as the girl led the way to hold their private conversation. Ren had been told that the girl had wished to speak with him, but he had no clue why she wanted to talk to him. There was the remark he made to Stiyl back that the Daihasei, but he didn't feel like it would cause any repercussions.

"Apologies for bringing you out here," the katana-wielding girl started. "I just had a matter I wished to discuss quickly."

Ren realized she was somewhat formal, but also a girl who was no older than he was.

"It's no problem," Ren reassured her. "By the way, it's Kanzaki right?"

"My apologies, I've yet to introduce myself. My name is Kaori Kanzaki, member of Necessarius."

"I'm sure you know considering you want to speak to me, but I'm Ren Amamiya, member of the normal-high-school-boy society."

Kanzaki had given him a slight chuckle. He felt that the girl seemed a bit tense and tried to relieve the tension by making her feel comfortable talking to him. He was a great conversationalist, so his Bonds spoke volumes.

"You seem to be an outlier," Kanzaki pointed out while rubbing her hands. "You popped out of thin air and have been a tremendous support for Kamijou and Index. I… really wanted to thank you for that."

Really? Was this really all she wanted to talk about? How he had integrated into life in Academy City and just so happened to meet Touma and Index? There seemed to be more, but Ren didn't want to press her.

"There's really no need for thanks," Ren said, waving his arms in a nonchalant manner. "They're good friends and I'm glad to have met them. That's all."

"Yet you willingly put yourself in danger just because they're 'good friends'? Tsuchimikado has told me quite a bit about you. Your power isn't Magic, but it's too spiritual to derive from science. Just with this, it really does seem you're from outside of this world."

"I'm sure he has, and I'll tell you this. I'm just a Level 0 Esper who just so happens to be lucky. I made friends and I'm happy that they think I'm a good person."

"So you don't wish to tell me what your power really is?" Kanzaki pointed out, crossing her arms. "How about we make a deal then? I'll tell you about myself, and you tell me about yourself. Seems like a fair trade, right?"

Ren realized that he was doing the exact same thing Touma was doing a couple of minutes ago and downplaying his involvement in everything. He was being hypocritical and decided to go along with the offer Kanzaki had made him.

"Go ahead." Ren said, nodding his head.

"Ever since I was a child, I was always blessed with good luck. I was born a Saint, and with that came a vast amount of power."

Ren could feel her aura emanate throughout a large area, but he knew that she was holding back.

"But there's something that bothers you right?" Ren carefully asked.

"Yes… luck has always been on my side, and it always feels like I'm robbing it from people. When something good happens to me something bad always happens to someone else."

"So you're saying that your powers are somewhat of a curse?"

"Somewhat. Kamijou is always getting hurt, my former church, even Index. The power I've had since birth seems to never want anyone else to succeed."

"Yet you're still grateful for what it's given you right?"

Kanzaki's depressed face turned into one of surprise.

"If you really think that you being a Saint is the root of the problem, then why has everyone stood by you all this time?"

Kanzaki looked like she was in a stupor. She was silent and didn't even try to open her mouth.

"Everyone has been with you and don't you think they would've hated you if that were the case? I seriously doubt people would blame their problems on you being a Saint. Heck, you have the characteristics of the Son of God! You have the strength to protect and I know you are grateful for it. People like us bear the responsibility of using our power to protect and we can only be thankful that we were bestowed these abilities."

Kanzaki looked like she was on the verge of tears. Here, a boy her age, a boy she had never seen or spoken to before, was giving her the courage to believe in herself and her ability. The bespeckled boy was truly one of the most charismatic men in the world.

"Amamiya… who taught you to speak so well?" Kanzaki laughed while rubbing her eyes. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

"I am too," Ren followed up. "In fact, I think it's my turn to hold up the end of our deal right?"

Ren walked to the middle of the small room and gestured to Kanzaki to stay back.

"You know how the four Archangels are a part of Christianity?"

"I do, but what does that have to do with your power?"

"Uriel!" shouted Ren.

The Archangel from within his soul had manifested itself into the real world, leaving Kanzaki with an open mouth.

"You… you can summon a manifestation of Uriel?"

Ren shook his head and summoned Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael quickly afterward. Kanzaki seemed to be more shocked the more summons Ren performed.

"I've never seen this type of Magic before… what denomination are you from?"

"It isn't Magic, but a manifestation of my soul. Simply put, it's a Persona, a power that comes from my inner spirit."

"If that's the case, why can you summon all four of the Archangels? I know I don't know what this 'Persona' is, but if you only have your singular spirit, how can you summon multiple of them?"

"It's a unique power that was bestowed upon me, but that's an entirely different conversation. I just wanted to let you know what I was capable of, and I hope that you'll see me as an equal in battle."

Kanzaki nodded her head and gave Ren a smile. His genuine demeanor was something that still confused her to no end, but she was glad that he was on their side.

"I'm glad we had this chat," Kanzaki said. "But I still can't fathom why you help out so much."

"It's because I love seeing people smile," Ren said with his own. "Especially from someone as beautiful as yourself."

"Wha- wha- wh-" Kanzaki instantly had a furious blush on her face.

Ren wasn't lying though, she was the definition of beautiful.

After rejoining everyone in the main area, Kanzaki and Bayloupe spoke about the information they had regarding their current predicament. FORMULA was somewhere in England, and the members were working toward obtaining Touma's right hand as the last piece of their puzzle. Both girls had a strong sense of authority and the way they spoke ensured that everyone was listening. After going over the information at their disposal, Ren excused himself.

"I don't like working in the dark. I'm gonna try scoping things out," he excused himself. Despite everything with the Thieves and now Necessarius, there was something to be said about his enjoyment in his own work.

"I assume you'll be good on your own?" Touma asked.

"I'll be good, you should get some rest. Relax a little." Ren replied.

The spiky-haired boy seemed extremely reluctant but eventually relented as Stiyl asked him to do something in another part of the cabin. He snickered a little as the two had a bit of back and forth over the meal they would be serving that night. The meager kitchen would have to suffice, but that didn't stop Touma from butting heads with the mage, as usual.

"I'll cover a two-kilometer radius," Ren told Bayloupe. "If anything happens here, call this number."

Taking out his phone, he sent her a quick message detailing his contact information. Looking it over for a second, she added him to his contacts. She gave him a smile, something that made Ren's cheeks heat up a bit.

"Same goes for you, if you find something, let me know."

"I will," the Trickster responded. "I'm off then."

Walking out of the cabin and into the snow-capped landscape, Ren reached back into the wellspring of his soul. Quietly removing his domino mask, the Persona of Yatagarasu materialized behind him. Mentally signaling the spirit, it flew off without fanfare as it patrolled the designated area from the sky.

There were multiple trees around the cabin, so picking which way to go was going to be a pain. Ren activated his Third Eye to give him some sort of hint on which way was the best to start. He felt a faint trace of curiosity when he turned to the northeast point of the area, which triggered his own as he latched onto the feeling. He began to walk off in the area as Yatagarasu remained in the air.

The boy with unkempt hair saw multiple flares on his way towards the location, characteristics of living things. The feeling of curiosity only grew stronger the more we walked, but the strange feeling wasn't his.

The curiosity came from a group of people.

Ren had walked approximately a kilometer and a half before his Third Eye detected footsteps that didn't belong to anyone back at the cabin. They stopped a big pile of snow, so Ren returned Yatagarasu to himself and summoned Surt instead. Willing an Agi spell to melt the snow, a ball of magical fire appeared in the palm of his hand. It took little time to melt away the pile of snow covering his target. The absence of the snow revealed a small wooden trapdoor. From the looks of the entrance, the place had been abandoned for some amount of time, yet no more than three months, as his trained eye revealed.

Kicking the aged structure off its hinges with a small kick, there was a thin staircase that descended about forty meters below ground down a concrete tunnel. There was almost no lighting, most of what he saw being through his Third Eye.

Following the stairwell, it flattened out into a tight corridor that ended with a non-descript door. Opening it, he found himself in a small room with multiple machines that seemed to be connected to the center of the room by a mess of wires and circuits of some kind. On the floor, there was a circular pad that felt far more advanced than anything else Ren had seen in the room.

The room felt so… lifeless. Ren could hardly sense anything aside from the dull rattles and hums of the ambiance around him. It wasn't peaceful, it felt fake. Manufactured.

The walls were gray, the room smelled sterilized, and it felt so claustrophobic. The walls were a far cry from caving in, but the aura in the room felt like it could swallow Ren whole. He swallowed an uncharacteristic lump in his throat. It all felt so numb to him.

Despite this all, though, Ren felt a sense of familiarity, but he didn't want to believe his assumption was correct. This attachment was something that he never wanted to feel in this world.

In the corner of the room, there was a file, washed in tones of sepia. It was burned and multiple pages were ripped out, but one piece of scrap paper remained eligible through the destruction. Whoever left was in a hurry, but the semantics didn't matter.

Ren picked it up and his eyes widened at the only legible word that was left on the document. His entire body simultaneously seized up and went slack at the same time.

Metaverse.

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Thank you to HelixPenn and Healthcare! They're good friends and I appreciate them for reading my shitty fic.