Disclaimer: Fate and Persona are owned by different companies, and I hold no ownership and all that jazz.


Author's Note: So… releasing an incorrect version of the previous chapter on both sites was something I wasn't expecting. More so them being two different styles of wrongness. I am not entirely sure how I managed that.


Anyway, the previous chapter's ending was corrected to how it should be, and I'm going to place it here as well in case someone missed it.

"̸̰̒P̸̝̓s̴̯̈i̷̳͑o̶̩͆d̷͎̾y̵̜͘n̸̪̒e̸͎͒"̴̪̿ "She didn't know why she spoke, her mind became calm, no excruciating pain, no ripping, just serenity.

She felt her body flicker as it got warmer, something rested upon her face as she knew what to do. The horde of rubble and dolls floated harmlessly above her, glancing down at the Beast attacking her friends.

She released it. The cloud of rubble landed on the beast, she could faintly make out forms flickering away but her eyes grew heavy.

She felt her body flicker, exhaustion hit her like a truck as she fell onto the ground her mind fluttered for a second as she realized what she had done.

"Damnn…. Haru." A voice, loud and boisterous caused her to look up, the faux-blonde gave her a toothy grin, "I knew you had it in ya! Monamona! Go see if ya can't find the Treasure!"

The bandit cat tossed the human version of that man, onto the ground, the body was fading into black dust. He was disheveled, his fur was matted and he looked exhausted, "Do you know how hard that was for me!? That guy weighs a ton!"

Haru felt the edges of her mouth rise, a soft smile on her lips as she looked at the two bicker, they were such good friends.

An eruption of sound, her eyes quickly moved that Monster was still standing. One of its arms hung limp, and each breath it took seemed taxing. She felt for that power once more, but…

Nothing was there other than exhaustion.

Makoto's motorcycle sped towards it with Nuclear Energy as it narrowly dodged, Balls of fire washed over its skin as ice covered the floor.

A blade of shining gold slashed into the Beast as she felt arms around her, her kōhai, helping her stand. "We got to go."

"The treasure?" His heart was changed, right?

"Don't worry. Morgana has it."

Ah… that's good… her eyes grew heavy, surely… they wouldn't mind her taking a small break?


Now onto the actual chapter! 8/10


With all the debris removed his nose was somewhat working right his senses let him pick up the Treasure, he dropped to all fours, ugh, and darted to one of the sole pieces of furniture that was mostly intact other than the… foul-smelling bed frame.

It was locked of course.

What desk wouldn't be locked?

He always had a lock pick on him, the scraps he scrounged while Akira made mistakes had always landed in his expert felt the inner workings of the frankly simple lock and-

A roar of anger gave him only a slight pause, and his ears twitched as he glanced behind him, the Jabberwocky was far stronger than anything else they had seen in this place, but it was practically mindless, pure power and capturing of range was all it was good for.

It reminded him of a certain Blonde Mo-

The lock gave way, and his hands quickly snaked in and grabbed the Treasure, the drive to have it was immense but his meditation trips with Akira were paying off, letting him not be distracted by it as he stuffed the strange paper into his pack and he felt the World shake.

Winds roared inside his heart as the world Shifted around him, with a puff of Magical Energy he appeared beside Akira. "Joker! We gotta go!" That thing was still standing? One of its arms was limp to its side, its singular wing had large gaps and the jaw looked to be dislocated.

It seemed to want to fight, and they were still far from the entrance. Hakuno raised her hand as the attacks ceased.

"Jabberwocky… please go home." Hakuno's voice was tinged with some emotion that he didn't understand.

Jabberwocky's eyes were still wild… but it wasn't charging at them, the beast was too wounded to continue. Something inside himself was telling him to help it.

"Magus?"

"Did you finally wake up? Alice and Nursery Rhyme are resting. They would want you to get some rest as well. It's been hard, hasn't it? Fighting and fighting… taking in Mana where you can, you should rest now. " The Beast panted, as a tiny flicker of recognition appeared in its eyes as it took a step forward and stumbled…

The collapse of the Palace was getting closer they didn't have time for this!

"We gotta go now!"

"But!" No more time to argue.

A flood of belief filled his body as he Transformed, "Get in! If he could come in here he should be able to leave right!?"

"Come on," Makoto grabbed Hakuno as they piled in. "Gun it Joker!"

"They wouldn't want you to keep fighting!"


Her voice… was familiar. It grated him.

But their strikes gave him a momentary calm, the haze of his mind freed.

He remembered her… or did he? All he can recall is a flash of fire.

His fist slammed into the ground, his eyes blurry from rage and confusion, Alice… she mentioned her, who was she again? Sister?

The world was shaking.

He remembers the last time he saw Nursery… that Golden Man, his swords burned holes into him. As he protected… what was her name again… It has been a long… long time.

Days? Weeks? Years? Time has no meaning in this strange bloody prison.

Ah, how he misses his Tulgey Woods. His Tumtum Tree, his home with those two children.

Why was he here? Nursery wanted them to live… was it aimed at him or her?

That's r-

Golden chains wrapped around his torso.

He grabbed and struggled against the bindings. The impossible strength that led him to tear holes in many would never be enough against these infinite chains. His singular wing outstretched as his twisted face bit down upon the impervious chains.

He still had his duty.

One final job for his beloved Wandering Girl.

"̸H̷e̴r̶ ̶s̶t̵r̵e̵n̶g̷t̴h̷…̵ ̸i̷s̶ ̵a̷c̷c̴e̶p̷t̶a̵b̴l̸e̸.̷ ̴Y̵o̴u̵ ̸a̸r̵e̶ ̸s̸t̸i̶l̷l̵ ̵n̷e̵e̵d̷e̶d̴…̸ ̵t̸o̵ ̴k̶e̶e̶p̸ ̷t̴h̴a̸t̵ ̸r̶a̸g̸ ̸d̸o̶l̴l̸ ̵a̵w̶a̸y̵ ̸w̷h̶i̸l̶e̸ ̶s̷h̸e̶ ̷r̵e̶s̶t̸s̸.̷ ̴I̴ ̷m̶u̵s̶t̴ ̸s̷a̷y̷ ̶t̷h̶a̵t̸ ̷t̴h̸i̵s̸ ̷i̴s̵ ̵a̴ ̸s̷u̵r̸p̷r̴i̷s̷e̷,̸ ̴" The mocking in its voice grated on its ears, " ̴I̷ ̴d̶i̴d̷ ̶n̸o̴t̸ ̴t̸h̷i̴n̵k̶ ̸y̷o̵u̷ ̷w̸o̶u̵l̶d̷ ̷b̴e̶ ̸a̸b̷l̸e̸ ̵t̵o̸ ̴e̸n̵t̵e̶r̷ ̴t̸h̶e̸s̵e̶…̵ ̷l̷a̴i̵r̷s̸.̴ ̴H̵u̶m̸a̶n̶s̶ ̶a̵n̶d̸ ̷t̵h̵e̸i̶r̸ ̷̴l̷o̵v̵e̶ ̴o̸f̴ s̸i̵n̶.̸ ̶I̸t̸ ̷j̸u̷s̷t̸ ̴g̸o̷e̴s̸ ̴t̴o̷ ̷s̵h̴o̵w̷ ̵h̷o̷w̶ ̴p̵a̸t̶h̷e̶t̶i̷c̵ ̴t̶h̷e̶y̷ ̵a̷r̷e̶…̷ ̸C̸o̷m̸e̷ ̶b̵e̸a̸s̴t̴,̷ ̵y̶o̶u̵ ̸s̷h̶a̴l̸l̴ ̵r̴e̷s̴t̶ ̸b̷e̴s̵i̷d̷e̵ ̵y̸o̵u̶r̴ ̷t̶r̶e̶e̴ ̸o̸n̷c̶e̵ ̷m̸o̸r̸e̴.̶"̴White cloth covered his vision as his mind went dark.


What… was Jabberwocky doing there? How… did it cross from the Moon Cell? Could it be a remnant from her Palace?

Shadows from previous Palaces typically appear here… the Shadows from her Palace don't seem to have their floor like other Palace Shadows, they seem to be entwined with Ran Ru's palace. Maybe the ties Jabberwocky held with the General Public did something to change him into a roaming creature similar to the Reaper?

Could it be the Black Mask?

No, Jabberwocky's face is red, even the twisted fangs were still tinged in the otherworldly red, and going by his wounds… he would have been described more clearly. His mouth and those nets perhaps he has been the one setting those nets? The nets are a recent change in Mementos…

Something else had to be happening…

They idled outside watching the portal collapse onto itself.

No sign of Jabberwocky coming out.

Haru was still resting, her head was atop her lap, and the sole seatbelt in the middle row of the Monamobile was holding her down.

She was worried, they never passed out so soon after awakening a Persona. Although it was strange that she didn't make out the Persona behind her. But perhaps it only appeared for a split second? She didn't notice the debris cloud until it began to rain down on Jabberwocky, Futaba's tentacle had to grab her out of the way.

"Hey Magus, how is she?" Makoto's glance from the front let Hakuno sigh slightly.

"Stable, slight increase in body temperature I don't have enough Od to do an in-depth examination of her soul and shouldn't use more Magecraft for the time being." If Haru were in danger of a more spiritual kind then a simple Recover would not suffice. She didn't have anything that could heal such a wound.

Something to look into… perhaps the local shrine would have something she could twist the cognition of?

"She might be like Oracle?" Ann pointed out, "She passed out for what a week?"

"Five and half days! And I still was able to my dailies!"

"You were awake during that time?"

"Uh yeah, I might have been dead to the world but I still woke up for an hour a day. Gotta keep my log-in bonuses up." Hakuno rolled her eyes.

"I'm not too sure that's something to brag about…"

"Oh, it is." Ryuji nodded, "Dailies are hella important, miss one day and boom gotta start all over again."

"I know!" Futaba put her head near Hakuno's "One game messed up with an Event and ruined everybody's log-in bonuses!"

"Oh, I remember that!" Akira mentioned, "Didn't that game do it based on total logins though?"

"It's the honor!" Hakuno sighed, "Years! Years I say! People logged in for years and then lost their streak cause of maintenance!"

"Can we please talk about something else…" Makoto quietly mumbled.


Their ascent was only slightly slower than normal, Akira was making a note to dodge all the Shadows, interestingly enough some of the earlier Shadows fled as soon as Morgana came into their vision.

The twins were waiting for them as they always were, they looked concerned upon seeing Makoto carry Haru up but did not speak up. Her fever was going down but she was still only partially lucid.

"Think we should take her to Takemi?" Hakuno paused at Makoto's question, the real world was only a touch away.

"If she doesn't wake up… might be best, not too sure she would like us going for nothing though…"

"Why not bring her to our place? I mean, we're only a single stop away, I doubt anyone would notice. 'Sides that's why we can have Skull be our distraction." Ann had a point…

"Do you think you can pretend to be her for her Father and … Sugimura?" Futaba scrunched her face at that.

"Probably? At least I can make her Father have enough work not to check in." Akira nodded to that.

"If she doesn't wake up by tomorrow I'll see if Takemi can't swing by, I trust her." Ah, the lady that checked up on both her and Futaba… Hakuno nodded, if she didn't blab then she could probably be trusted.

"Death can be trusted," Caroline mumbled, "She's one of-" Justine smacked her twin on the back of her head.

"We should not leak the Inmate's confidants. It is improper."

"Why you!" Caroline jumped onto the other warden as the two began to fight.

Hakuno ignored that as a wash of red and black tint covered their vision.


"Do you need assistance Niijima-san?" Hakuno turned around, and the group paused.

"Akechi-kun? Oh no, don't mind us." Hakuno noticed Makoto wince slightly, Haru needed rest, and well, she could imagine they all needed some rest after today. Ann was giving Makoto a hand but…

"Sorry bud, but we're kind of in a hurry here." Ryuji pointed out.

"Oh my… Kurusu and friends… I did not expect your circles lined up, but perhaps…" His eyes landed on her. "It seems you all run into a familiar friend." His eyes opened as he now recognized who was being carried. "And Okumura-san?"

"It's not what it looks like." Akira stepped in front of the trio, "We were hanging out with Haru and… you know how her Father is correct?"

Akechi's face flashed with concern, "Of course, my … investigation has shown a few highlights of his true personality. Nothing concrete of course. Though I must ask… where are you taking her? If you intend to do any harm…"

"To our apartment." Hakuno stated, "She will get some rest, if not feeling better by tomorrow we have a doctor on call." She could feel his gaze upon her, looking for the ẗ̸̘̈́r̷̹̽̄u̵͎͗t̸̡̛̿ẖ̷̮̂̽.

Satisfied he nodded, "I see," his phone vibrated a glance gave him monetary pause, "Apologies, I must be going now. There has been an incident that requires my direct attention." He bows his head slightly, "It was nice meeting you Kitagawa, Sakamoto, and… Takamaki."


Her feet glided on the ground as she fell into the arms of one of the guardsmen, their voice was faint and distant but she could hear the concern.

It did not sway her as she stole his dagger and plunged it into his heart swiping his rapier as he fell to the floor. With a flourish, the blade lept to the throat of another slicing his neck before he realised what was occurring.

This is wrong.

In her hands, she held the diamond necklace she long sought, a gift from a Queen to a King.

This is also wrong.

"But you will kill me."

"Yes because I don't hate him."

She isn't dead though.

In her hand was an axe, she swung it down once as the log split. Her hands finally felt right.

"Of course, I find you out here. Didn't I tell you to cease this waste of time?" Finally, she could hear a voice, and it was certainly her Father.

"Yes, Father… I apologize." She bowed her head slightly, "I do find it refreshing though…"

He scoffed, "That doesn't matter, we have Servants for that. You are the heir to my company, you can't be looking like a common woodcutter." She swallowed her retort, she knew it would be pointless. "Get cleaned up, in one hour your fiance will be coming."

Fiance? She didn't have a Fiance.

"But Father!"

"Yuuto Sugimura's father is a member of the Peer's Club. He is a valuable connection for this family and my future." A tiny flicker ignited inside of her.

"But I don't know him."

He gave her a look of confusion, "Why does that matter? You have your duty to fulfill."

The flicker in her heart faded, "Yes… Father." Her duty is to the company, to whom she owes her everything


Author's Note: Sorry for being a bit late and a bit shorter chapter! A few plot-related things happened but honestly, things will simmer down for a bit. Wonder why Akechi left so quickly… and the chains...

We shall see eventually!

Well, there is a bit more, should be posted right after this give or take 10-20 minutes. Eh, you'll see have a good day everybody!