Chapter 65: Lighting the Way
Ω • Ω • Ω
•Akira•
The deep tunnel swiftly snuffed out the light high above as they continued to fall. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Skull's scream rang in Joker's ears, with the sound of rushing air nearly deafening him to everything else.
Summon me!
Below, a square of light was beginning to approach through the darkness of the tunnel. "Anzu!" The Mesopotamian Persona appeared beside him diving down, and he straightened his body out. He wrapped his arms around its neck and felt an odd sensation run through himself. "Skull, summon Kidd!"
"H-Huh?!" They passed through the light, and far below them, he saw a pit of quicksand. "S-Shit! Come on, Kidd!" As Anzu pulled up hard out of the dive, Skull just barely managed to rip his mask off and summon the surfing pirate in a blaze of blue flame. The Captain grabbed Skull by the back of his jacket and spun, using his momentum to throw him the same safe stone ledge that Joker landed on with Anzu.
While Skull was still reorienting himself, he dismissed Anzu, ran to the edge, and jumped onto the railing. He spun and shot his grappling hook down into the quicksand pit where Panther, Mona, Fox, and Queen scrambled to keep themselves from sinking. "Everyone, grab on!"
There was a rush for the wire, and he grunted as the combined weight of three people and a not-cat nearly pulled him into the pit alongside them. "O-Oni, give me a hand!" He fumbled with the hand that the hook wasn't attached to, ripping his mask free. The massive red demon appeared beside him and grabbed the grappling hook, tugging it hard.
"And heave!" With an odd squelch, the stuck Thieves were pulled free, and thrown high into the air. Skull scrambled to his feet and caught Fox and Mona, while Oni caught Queen and Panther. The four thieves were set down on solid ground, and everyone caught their breath after the harrowing experience.
"Hah… Dude, I am sick of these goddamn traps!"
"I'm drop-kicking that damn Shadow the next time we see her," Oni rumbled with a snarl as he dropped the two girls unceremoniously.
"Don't do that," he sighed.
"Owww…" Panther groaned as she lay on the stone floor. "First a boulder, then this… Did we piss her off somehow?"
"I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her," Mona theorized.
Queen looked both tired and saddened. "A simple defense mechanism… Considering what she's been through, I don't blame her for distrusting others."
"Joker, let's save her! We've gotta help Futaba-chan open the door to her heart!"
'And more importantly, the door to that stairwell,' he dryly thought to himself. "Of course," he spoke out loud instead.
"I have no objections, but we should worry about ourselves first and foremost." Mona hopped forward and readied his sword as he looked around the large chamber they'd been dropped in, and at all the patrolling mummy shadows. "Come on, let's look for a way back above ground. Otherwise, this place is going to be our tomb too."
Ω • Ω • Ω
The underground antechamber was split into several levels, with streams of sand pouring into the central pit that they'd almost drowned in. The Shadows wandering the area would become three types once he ripped off their masks, the first being the moon men they'd encountered in the town, the second being Anzu, and the final type were half-human, half-snake creatures. The top half was the human half, of course.
Naga, if his knowledge was right. The men held spears and shields, while the women used leeching abilities, draining their physical stamina and magical energy. While he focused on figuring out what they were as they fought, Skull was distracted by the fact that the females were naked, only their long hair covering their chests.
It had resulted in the faux-blond being struck by several easily avoidable attacks.
"Skull, I swear to god, I will be the next one to hit you if you ogle another Shadow's chest," he sighed as he handed the boy more medicine.
"Sorry," his friend replied in embarrassment.
When they reached the top of the room, they found an unlocked door covered in the odd symbols he'd observed everywhere else in the Palace, with the head of a jackal, likely Anubis, over the door. The lever to open it was, of course, in the shape of an Ankh.
With what an Ankh represents in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics… Could that be considered ironic?
"Oh? Look at that up ahead."
Everyone followed Fox's finger, and Skull grinned. "Light! That's gotta be the exit! We're gettin' outta here sooner than I thought!"
"Thank god we can finally get out of here. This was all around a horrible experience." He chuckled at Mona's grumbles, and they began creeping through the winding tunnels that led to the exit.
Ahead of them, he spotted a dog-shaped Guard Shadow, similar to the ones in Kaneshiro's bank. "Form up." He put himself behind a pillar, breathed in, and then burst forward with PSI Shadow. He rematerialized on the dog's back, ripping off its mask and leaping away. "I'll reveal your true form!"
"Now's our chance to strike! Go!" The ooze formed into a single Shadow, a baboon wearing a hat and holding a book covered in Egyptian symbols. Before it could react Mona was already in motion, bounding forward and slashing at its neck, cutting a deep groove into its side as it just barely dodged back.
Well, if awkwardly rolling onto its side could be classified as dodging. It was not like it was all that agile of a monster. As it let out a monkey's screech of fear Fox was suddenly there, slicing out with his sword. The blade cut through the cover of the Shadow's book as it scrambled away, sending pages flying.
The baboon screeched and leaped to its feet, launching balls of purple energy out of the book toward them. "Nuke attack! Dodge!" He backflipped out of the way of the explosive orbs, before sprinting back in and switching the Great Thief Stick to combat form. He jabbed it forward like a rapier thrice, and while the Shadow had blocked one thrust with its book, two more pierced its neck and face, before he spun and slashed it across the eyes.
Blinded, it couldn't do anything when Skull roared and leaped into the air, bringing his Spike Hammer down hard and crushing it into a puddle of goop. "Whoo! That's what I'm talkin' about!"
"Fox, Mona, you okay?"
"Yep! I dodged that attack easy!"
"I'm alright. I couldn't dodge in time, but I blocked the majority of the magic with my katana. I merely have some minor burns."
"Then here, take some medicine," he replied as he tossed some of Takemi's goods at Fox.
"That Shadow was rather weak," Queen spoke as she and Panther approached. "Perhaps it does better in group fights?"
"Well, they did ambush it and beat it up before it even knew what was going on," Panther laughed.
"I'm sure we'll do fine if we fight more of them in the future," he shrugged. "Now come on."
More of the monkey Shadows were ambushed as they crept along the dark corridors, each one easily taken out, thought it might have simply been because each fight was against a single baboon. If they were supported by a group of Shadows or more of its type, it might've been a larger threat as Queen had thought.
Either way, he led them towards the exit as quickly but as safely as he could, until they spotted a larger guard standing on the other side of a set of bars and an open doorway. "Damn, that thing looks pretty tough," Skull muttered.
"It could be a difficult adversary."
Queen narrowed her eyes. "Fox is right. For now, I suggest we continue looking for the exit. We can return here when we've secured our way out."
Nodding in agreement, they continued forward but hit another roadblock swiftly. "Looks like that'll be easier said than done," he whispered as they eyed a Savage Enemy waiting in front of the exit. "Is everyone ready?"
"As ever, Joker," Fox murmured back.
He steadied himself and sprinted forward, moving fast enough that the Shadow couldn't react before he jumped onto it and ripped its mask free. It revealed a man with black fur covering his body, wearing white armor and a blue headdress holding scales in one hand, but instead of a human head, it had a jackal's.
His eyes widened as he instantly recognized the legendary Egyptian god. "Oh fuck."
"Judgement." The scales tipped towards the gold side, and the Anubis' free hand pointed towards him before a beam of pure light fired out of its palm.
"Principa—!" He just barely switched to the light-nullifying Persona when the blast struck. The ray washed over him like the water of a river rushing past a rock, and once the attack ended he was left standing there unharmed, only the ground beneath and directly behind him left undamaged by the attack.
"Goemon, strike!" A wave of ice exploded up into the Shadow, partially freezing it. That didn't seem to matter as the Anubis unleashed an explosion of light, shattering the ice and sending everyone except for Joker with his light immunity flying back. The scales tipped again, this time to the black side.
"Makouga!" Needles formed of light shot from Principality's staff, but none could pierce Anubis' flesh, or even mar it. "Damn… And I'm willing to bet it's immune to Curse, too,"
"Judgment." Black flames began overflowing from the scales, rolling toward the Thieves at frightening speed. Rakshasa was only resistant to Curse, but that was better than Principality's weakness to it, so he swapped and gritted his teeth as the magic struck.
Skull yelped as he was swept up, while Fox and Mona jumped over the attack, pulling out their ranged weapons and unloading in retaliation. The bullets and pellets did better than the Makouga, actually drawing blood, but the Anubis looked unperturbed.
"Judgment." A doll appeared before Fox, the same one the Reaper had summoned when using its instant kill move on Skull. The three nails appeared and began piercing the puppet, but Mona managed to throw himself forward with a burst of winds courtesy of Zorro, tackling Fox before the final nail struck.
"Damn it! Joker, let's kick this guy's ass!" Skull took the opportunity, jumping back to his feet and charging to his side. He nodded at the faux-blond, and they rushed the Shadow. The scales tipped back to the Light as Anubis floated back to try and make space between them.
"Judgement."
"Principality!" Skull slowed and let him run in front, parting the oncoming beam of energy with his body.
"Yeah, Broly that shit!"
"Focus!" He barked back. However, he did feel his lips waver into a grin for a moment before he ripped his mask off and let out the angelic figure at the forefront of his mind. "Makajamaon!" Principality's staff shone bright purple, and Anubis flinched as the forget spell activated.
Unable to attack again before they reached it, Skull and he began striking, his dagger slashing and piercing flesh, while Skull smashed and struck again and again. He quickly pulled his gun out and fired, bullets riddling Anubis' body, but before he could shoot its head the Forget wore off and the scales tipped back to curse, another miasmic wave flooding out of the unorthodox weapon.
He couldn't react in time and was caught by the attack while still using Principality and weak to curse. It hurt, it hurt like hell, and he fell to the floor writhing in agony. "Goemon, Bufula!" Through watery eyes he saw crystals of ice form around Anubis, before shattering into pale dust, freezing the Shadow in place.
"Joker, you good?!" Skull helped pick him up while Mona hit him with a Diarama.
"I'm fine! Skull, hit Anubis hard!"
"Awright!" The lightning-user wound up and swung, striking Anubis hard and shattering its frozen state. As it was dazed from the attack he offered his hand with a grin. "Pass the Baton!"
He slapped Skull's hand, switching to Setanta as flames roared around him. "Giant Slice!" Setanta twirled his spear and slashed Anubis from hip to shoulder, causing a fountain of black blood to spurt out as the Shadow was thrown onto its back. "Now, All-Out Attack!"
Slashing, striking, and piercing, they obliterated the Savage Enemy but didn't quite defeat it. It was weakened enough, however, that one final bullet was enough to put it out of its misery. "That was a tough one," Mona breathed as everyone calmed down. "But it makes sense that Anubis would be here, in this Tomb Palace."
"Yes, just our luck that we would have to face the lord of death," Fox sighed.
"Uh, yeah, totally."
He gave Skull a look, knowing damn well that his friend knew nothing about Egyptian mythology, and probably not even Japanese mythology, before they continued their exploration. Luckily for the Thieves, the exit back to the surface was right behind the Anubis and up another ramp, through a readily opened gate. "Finally…"
A final staircase waited for them, and once they'd ascended, they were out of the underground chambers, and back into the scorching desert air. "We made it out!" Skull cheered. "Damn it's hot, though… My ass is all sweaty."
Everyone bit their tongue to keep from commenting, while Fox steadfastly looked away. "At least we have secured our escape route. We can finally go about exploring this place now."
"Let's use this as our entrance from here forward. It should be more stable than the front."
"Queen's right. There's still that doorway guarded by the strong-looking shadow that we need to explore. Everyone, take a quick breather, then we're going back in." He distributed some medicine and soda to heal their wounds and restore their spirit.
As they restored their energy, they chatted about the enemies they'd fought so far, noting down weaknesses and resistances, along with the attacks they had and how they used their spells.
"Besides the Savage Enemy, it doesn't look like the Shadows have been too tough so far." Panther rocked back and forth as she sat next to him. "Maybe if it keeps going like that, it won't be too hard to finish the Palace?"
"Well, we know the Shadows usually get stronger the closer we get to the Treasure. But maybe due to the circumstances of the Palace, the Shadows will stay relatively weak and all we'll need to worry about will be the traps."
"We can only hope," Queen sighed.
Ω • Ω • Ω
Returning to the underground, the team stacked up just outside the room where the Shadow was waiting. As no one was too winded from the battle with Anubis, and their small break to recover what energy they did expend, they didn't change the party lineup.
"Let's get the show on the road," Joker muttered to himself, before charging through the archway. Before it could take notice of him he turned to darkness and appeared on top of the Shadow, grabbing its mask. "I'll reveal your true form!"
Once the face wear had been torn away and he landed on the ground, the guard began violently rumbling, much more so than regular Shadows did. Then, a moment later, a massive fountain of black goo erupted and formed into a huge figure.
The Shadow looked to be a huge stone man, composed of purple stone with orange energy shining through each rock making up its body. Its face was set in a permanent scowl, and it towered over them. Its torso alone looked to be six feet in height and four in length, combined with the length of its legs and it was truly a goliath of a Shadow.
"Everyone, stay sharp!" At Mona's call the statue roared, coming out swinging as it wound up and threw a punch at Joker. He flipped away, and the blow shattered the ground, burying itself up to the wrist. Skull yelled and tried smashing its arm with his hammer, but he didn't even make a dent.
The Shadow ripped its fist free from the ground and tried to backhand Skull, but he jumped back in time. Unfortunately, he was unable to dodge the next attack as the guardian statue charged forward and bulldozed Skull. "Oni!" The red demon appeared and dropped his weapon, instead wrapping his arms around the torso of the Shadow.
Even Oni's arms weren't long enough to wrap fully around the Shadow, but he was strong enough to lift the massive golem and suplex it. "Whoa!" Mona cried from the background before Zorro whipped up a whirlwind around the Golem and Oni. He quickly dismissed his Persona so he wouldn't be hurt, and the whipping winds tore at the monster. Small pebbles came loose from its body, but overall it didn't seem to care as it slowly got to its feet and then turned to Mona. It huffed, before charging out of the windstorm and trying to tackle Mona. "NYAAA!" Mona just barely ducked out of the way, hackles raised.
"Goemon!" The Japanese Robin Hood hit hard with his weapon, scattering pebbles as it struck the Shadow's side. The Golem shifted its weight and smashed the back of its fist into Goemon's face. "Agh!"
"Fox! Mona, heals!" Joker slid under a lariat as the Golem roared, then flipped onto his feet. It tried to throw a punch, and he used his momentum to jump high and then land on its outstretched fist, sprinting down its arm and slashing with his dagger as he went to scatter the rocks making up the 'skin' of its limb.
"!" The Shadow let out a wordless roar once more as it tried to snap its arm to the side and throw him off. In response, he leaped off and slipped past a punch thrown by its other arm, grabbing hold as it passed and flipping onto its chest. Pulling back, he thrust the Great Thief Stick into its glowing eyes, causing orange, glowing liquid to spurt out. "!"
"Dude, that was anime as eff!" Skull was suddenly underneath the titanic Shadow, bashing its knee in with his hammer. When it only knocked a few rocks loose, he growled and ripped his mask free. "CAPTAIN KIDD!" With a swipe of his boat, the Shadow was knocked to the ground and Skull roared as he wound up and crushed its head beneath his hammer. Some more pebbles were broken loose, and more importantly, large cracks formed in its face.
Before it could get up Skull had jumped back and Captain Kidd unleashed a blast of lightning. It crackled across the rocky skin of the Shadow and didn't do much to it, however, it did seem to cause the Shadow pain when the Zionga reacted to the orange liquid flowing under its exterior. A massive burst of ice suddenly erupted beneath the golem, hoarfrost crawling across its body as Mona healed Fox and the ice-wielder sent out Goemon.
Unfortunately, the ice barely stopped the Shadow from rising and swinging at Skull, who ducked away and dodged the attack. "It's resistant to ice!" Mona called.
"Alright… Fox, switch out! Panther, you're in!" As his teammates swapped places, he narrowed his eyes at the growling Shadow, staying back and watching it try to attack Skull again. It had shown no ranged attacks yet, or any abilities to support itself. It could only attack with physical blows, and of course, had the strength and endurance to match. However, while it could be quick when charging forward, it was nowhere near as agile when doing anything else… Like a train, he supposed.
"WhhhoOOOOAAAAaaaaaaa!" Skull was hit by a lucky shot, and Joker casually leaned to the side as their charge commander was sent flying past. So, with its strength and resistance to ice, it was best to swap Fox for Panther. Fire might not be much more effective, but she could stay far enough away while throwing spells to easily dodge its charges, while he, Mona, and Skull kept it occupied.
"Panther!" She looked over as he relayed the strategy and sent some causal healing Skull's way.
"Got it! Let's dance, Carmen!" The rose-covered gypsy appeared and unleashed a torrent of fire, which consumed the Shadow. It let out another wordless roar and charged through the flames while she did a small spin and jumped to the side to dodge.
"Joker, can't you hit it with your psychic crap?"
"I'd rather save my energy for an emergency," he absentmindedly answered as Skull approached.
"I think a huge golem we can barely hurt counts as an emergency…" Ignoring Skull's mutter, he twirled his cane-dagger before sprinting back into the fray. Before the golem could throw another punch at Panther he began swapping Personas quickly.
"Leanan Sidhe, Rakunda! Rakshasa, Tarunda!" The Shadow groaned as its strength and defenses were lowered, and he swapped one last time. He didn't have as much spirit restoring items as he did stamina restoring items… So he could throw some 'health' away to hit the bastard hard. He kept Rakshasa at the forefront but forced Yaksini into place alongside him.
"Captain Kidd, Tarukaja!"
His eyes glowed bright red, the same color as the strength buff Skull used on him, and he hunched over ferally. He grabbed his mask and pulled, the white, sturdy material coming free in a shower of warm, crimson liquid. Yaksini and Rakshasa appeared, and he roared animalistically as he ordered them forward. "SAVAGE BLOOD!"
The Shadow was unprepared for the fusion spell, and chunks of rock as large as Mona were torn free, with orange liquid spurting everywhere. When the attack ended, massive balls of fire were tossed by Carmen and exploded against the Golem's now-exposed innards.
"!" It let out a roar as it stumbled back, its glowing blood pooling on the ground. Without the rocks making up its outer body, its innards were revealed, all orange liquid, barely held in place with a consistency like jello. Panther unleashed more Agilaos, over and over again, blowing the Shadow apart. "!"
"Zionga!" Captain Kidd launched another burst of lighting that ignited the goliath's blood. Fire lightning and wind all began battering the Shadow as everyone's Personas unleashed hell, Joker switching to Leanan Sidhe as soon as he was recovered from the Fusion Spell and throwing in a Psio as well.
That finally did the trick, and the Shadow fell to its knees, causing the floor to shake, before dissolving to nothingness.
"Is everyone all right?"
"Hah… Just give us a second, Queen…" Everyone groaned and fell to their knees, butts, or onto their backs, breathing hard. Joker sighed and closed his eyes as he caught his breath, annoyed. "Barely into the Palace and we deal with a monster like that…"
"Well, on the bright side, if we see another one of those things, we can just start with you rushing the bastard with that twin spell thing," Skull spoke up. "That tore its armor… rocks… whatever, clean off, right?"
"We have more medicine that restores stamina than we do restores energy, so I should be able to do it however many times is necessary."
Queen frowned and crossed her arms in thought. "No, I think if we find another one of those Shadows, you should first experiment with your different elements and find its weakness. We hit it with Fire, Ice, lightning, and wind in that battle. If it happens to be weak to one of the other four elements, It would make the next battle with it smoother."
"That'd probably go a lot better than bashing our heads against a rock… literally," Panther muttered.
"If I have the energy to spare, then yeah, we'll do that."
"You've used more spells in Kaneshiro's bank and still had spirit to spare, how are you already running low?"
He shook his head as he got up. "I'm not, I'm playing it safe right now."
"I think you're playing it too safe, Joker." Queen squeezed her eyes closed and began muttering. "I cannot believe I just said that…"
"Whoa, Joker's playin' it too safe for even Queen!"
Queen glared at Skull and caused him to mutter an apology, while he shook his head at them. If we want to make as much progress as possible in as short a time frame as necessary, then we have to play it safe with our energy reserves. Now come on."
He got moving before anyone could respond, and behind him, everyone exchanged glances filled with varying levels of concern.
Ω • Ω • Ω
The hallways following the room they'd fought the stone Shadow in were long, but nowhere near as dark as Joker figured a pyramid's halls should be. But just like the grand staircase, it was easy to see, a light, greenish glow brightening the area.
If it weren't for the various sarcophagi and the general fact that it was a pyramid, it wouldn't have seemed like a tomb.
They made their way across broken wooden scaffolding, jumping over pits of what was, most likely, more quicksand. The strange underground area was filled with even more odd objects, like a massive ballista that they used to destroy a wall, letting a mirror shine a beam of bright light onto a door.
When the beam struck the door, the lock on it folded away, allowing them to open it easily. "So shining a light upon the door allows us to unlock it," Fox hummed.
"Wait, doesn't that mean we can open the door at the great stairs the same way?!"
Queen smiled at Panther's enthusiasm. "That's a definite possibility. In any case, we should push on." A stone slab nestled between two sarcophagi on the other side of the door immediately stopped them, red glowing text etched into it. "That looks important."
He knelt and began reading it aloud. "'The light shed by the god of the underworld shall become the sign for those who traverse the pits.' Cryptic."
After fights involving more Anzu, baboons, and moonmen, they found a clue to what the slate had been describing, a small statue of an Anubis standing against the back wall of an empty room, holding an orb of light.
"This's a statue of that dog Shadow, yeah? What's it holdin'?"
"Anubis, Skull," Queen sighed. "He's the Egyptian god of the underworld. A shining orb… possibly what the slab was describing?"
Panther let out a hum. "Uh, well it said something about light from the god of the underworld so… probably?"
"Well, it may come in handy somewhere. Shall we take it, Joker?"
"Yeah. It's got to be the key to some puzzle if the slab was describing this."
Fox nodded. "Very well. As you say, it may prove to be an object of great import."
"Um… No traps will activate when we take it, though… right?" He paused at Panther's uncertain words. Normally, he would've said that it would be too much of a cliche… but considering Palaces were a reality formed from someone's cognition, cliches ran rampant in them, like the 'off' switch for the laser hall in Madarame's museum being right behind them. Also, Futaba's Palace seemed to have more traps than any so far. It very well might be a trap.
But they couldn't waste time worrying about 'might-be's'.
"No other option." He swiped the Abyss Gem, and everyone held their breath. The Palace didn't rumble, no trap doors opened… And then the hieroglyphics jumped off the walls. "Oh come on!"
He had to backflip away from a jackal holding a spear, while a goddamn viper hieroglyph was lunging towards Skull and trying to bite him with its two-dimensional fangs. "What the shit?! How are—?! These things are flat, how are they hitting us?!"
"There are too many of them," Fox spoke gravely, but calmly, as he cut down hieroglyphic after hieroglyphic.
The ice user was right, more and more of the Shadow outlines were swarming them. Joker's eyes surveyed the room, and he grimaced at the thought of wasting energy, then nodded. "Everyone, onto the sarcophagi! Panther, light the room up!"
Scrambling to follow his directions in the middle of the sea of attacking hieroglyphics, everyone managed to jump onto the tall coffins as Panther summoned Carmen. "Dance, Carmen!" Fire spread out from the Graceful Dancer like a wave, and the Shadows let out disturbing, inhuman cries as they were swallowed and burnt to ash.
The room fell silent as the Shadows were destroyed, the walls now bare of everything except the lines of binary code. "Is… Is it safe now?" Mona cautiously asked.
Queen looked around the room. "Well, there aren't any more glyphs on the walls…"
"We've seen Shadows pop up out of nowhere before," he warned, "But these seemed special. I think we're good."
They continued ascending the underground tunnels, now keeping a keen eye on the walls and taking note of any jackal and snake hieroglyphs. Of course, they didn't know if any other types of hieroglyphs could come to life, but those were the two that had attacked.
Shadows that weren't the odd drawings still had to be fought through, in smaller and smaller rooms as they continued sneaking upwards. Eventually finding another Anubis statue, Joker grimaced. "Everyone, get ready." With a deep breath, and once everyone had ripped their masks off, he took the orb.
This time the Palace did rumble, and everyone stumbled, some of them needing their summoned Personas to grab and stabilize them, and at the same moment more Shadow glyphs attacked.
"Wide range spells! Oni, Rampage!"
"Kidd, Rampage!"
"Carmen, Maragi!"
"Zorro, Magaru!"
"Goemon, Mind Slice!"
"Johanna, Flash Bomb!"
The room was wiped out in an instant, the hieroglyphics having had barely any time to jump off the walls before they were wiped out by the destructive elements and raging physical forces. By the time their spells died down, only a few stragglers were left, and all six Phantom Thieves working together mopped them up with ease.
"Phew…" Skull wiped his forehead, before glaring at the ceiling. "Man, why'd the whole place suddenly shake when we took this orb?! It didn't do that with the last one!"
"Maybe there were only two we needed, and taking the second activated something?" Queen theorized.
Fox shrugged and smoothly sheathed his blade. "We can only find out by continuing onwards."
"Then let's move," he ordered. But they didn't have far to go. Just down the hall was a massive circular room, with some sort of mirror device in the center and a pedestal on either side of it, plus three massive holes opposite it that, judging by the sunlight pouring through, were windows showing the desert outside. The floor was covered in sand, with large piles under the windows.
Panther looked out the lowest hole and her eyebrows raised. "Check it out!" Everyone grouped up and found that whatever structure they were in was nearly as tall as the pyramid. "What are we standing in? The pyramid was the only thing out here besides that town!"
"Maybe that rumbling earlier was… whatever we're in, rising out of the sand? That's the only explanation for the sudden appearance of some kind of tower next to the pyramid." He shook his head. "Either way, I'm betting those pedestals are for the Anubis orbs we've picked up."
"This better not be another trap," Skull grumbled.
He ignored Skull but was still ready to fight just in case. As soon as both orbs were placed in the cavities within the pedestals, the room rumbled and he switched the Great Thief Stick to dagger mode, but it turned out to be unnecessary. The mirror simply flipped over as the ceiling ground open, letting in a pure stream of sunlight that was reflected into a beam shooting straight for a tiny hole in the front of the pyramid, high above the main entrance.
"Huh… I bet that light beam opened up the grand staircase for us!" Mona grinned and hopped forward, nodding. "Just like that door downstairs!"
"Then what're we waitin' for?" Skull looked out the window and grinned. "This statue's got a pretty good ramp shape, we can slide right down! Come on!"
Everyone looked towards him, and he nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's move." He joined Skull and looked down the side of the tower, and indeed, while it was a steep drop, the tower had just enough of a slant that they could slide down it. Without another word he hopped out, skidding down the side on his feet, tailcoat flapping behind him.
On a distant sandstone pillar, the flash of a camera was hidden by the glare of the sun and went unnoticed by the Phantom Thieves. The word 'pickles' drifted away on the scorching winds.
Nearing the bottom, the tower flared outwards and he flipped off of it, still about a story or two off the ground. He ripped his mask free and Phoenix appeared below him. He grabbed the red bird's talons as it flapped its wings, slowing his fall, before he let go and hit the ground with a roll. His fellow thieves hit the ground after him, using their various Personas to catch themselves or use their spells to cushion their landings.
As they approached the staircase to enter the pyramid, he looked over his shoulder. The tower that they'd caused to rise from the sand was several stories tall and was about as wide as a city building. There were two protrusions on its sides, almost like arms, while the three holes that they had looked out of formed a frowning face, the beam of light emitting from the center of the mouth, a pointy nose-like protrusion right above that.
It looked vaguely familiar, to some tower-like structure that people had found in southern Scaraba. But before he could think on it further they had entered the Palace proper and saw that the beam of light reflected by the mirror had indeed opened the Grand Staircase. "All right, we got it!" Skull cheered.
"So shining light upon it is what causes it to open. That is the same as the door underground. It seems your theories were correct."
"We can't rest on our laurels, though," Queen replied to Fox. "Let's stay cautious and proceed forward."
Hopping across the sand pit and approaching the massive door it slid open easily, Panther cheering as it did. "Yes, it's open!"
"As we noted previously," he noted with a dry smile.
"We seem to be pushing our way into the doors of her heart."
Skull gave Fox a look for that, while Panther sighed. "...I don't know if I'd phrase it like that."
"All right, enough of that." Beginning the ascent, he stared up at the next locked door, a serious gleam in his eyes. "We've got a long way to go."
So, replaced the Mot fight with Guardian General. That's a beeg boy. So, of course, I have established that archaeologists have begun to explore the Scarabian tombs like they have Egyptian ones, like the expedition Anthony had been on several chapters ago, so pictures of inert Guardian Generals and the inert battle hieroglyphs on the walls of pyramids would be circulating online. Futaba, in all her Egyptian nerdiness, would likely have seen these pictures, which is why they exist in the Palace.
I'll go into the Guardian General's stats if/when Akira fuses/persuades one to join him, but for the hieroglyphs, I imagined them more like the robot cognitions you fight in Okumura's Palace. Enemies that have specific weaknesses and resistances, but that you cannot recruit, just to make them a bit more unique.
Now for another change, Dungeon Man makes an appearance. But unlike the inside of Scarabian Tombs, since no one has seen the inside, Futaba as well would not have any idea of what the real thing's inner workings look like, so exploring it is similar to the rest of her Palace. That does, unfortunately, mean we didn't get a fun encounter with Brick Road. After all, the front door to Dungeon Man is locked, the Chosen Four have the only key, and Brick Road likely had a solution to stop people from cheating and getting to the top by climbing into the eyes or mouth, or landing on the roof.
I feel like something else happened I should comment on, but I'm fuzzy on the details. What a pickle.
Anyway, there was some exploring, and battling… and more shall come next time. Oh, had fun writing Akira no-selling a Makouga blast from Anubis like Broly just walking through Goku's Kamehameha. Gotta love elemental invulnerability. So, 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!